


What Really Happened

by ainamclane



Series: Little Black Dress RT Challenge - Sentinel and Guide Verse [32]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Evil Kate Argent, FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 06 Finale, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Spark Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-04 19:59:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 37,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12778410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ainamclane/pseuds/ainamclane
Summary: Stiles is at the academy. While things go south in Beacon Hills, he meets his Guide by trying to clear his name from FBI's most wanted list.Things progress after that





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/gifts).



> this story starts with Stiles at the FBI and progresses after the seasons finale.
> 
> HUGE HUGE MERCI to RPDots for the artwork, cheering and encouraging me to make this to a 37k piece.

  
image with thanks to RPDots. 

When Stiles was sitting down on his first day in class and nearly spilled – well, spewed - his drink on his classmate in front of him due to Derek’s most-wanted video footage, he was making a mental note to get to the bottom of this.

That only took some time. Like, long enough to go through the basics in those six months. Stiles knew that they were eventually let out to play. He was soaking up the knowledge and mastered pretty much all of the tasks assigned to him.

There were the interrogations with real suspects and fellow trainees. Those, Stiles had down in an instant. He had practiced with his Dad for years after all. And case subject whatever Supernatural enemy they had had at the time.

Then, there were the intimidating tactics. Seriously, after the Alpha Pack, after a mad Peter Hale, after Kate Argent, after Gerard Argent, after the Nogitsune, Stiles was an expert. He wasn’t intimidated easily. He wasn’t breaking in interrogations or threatened torture. Stiles had lived through the real deal before. He knew what it really felt like to be tortured, by electricity, mentally through the threat of another person or altered state of mind. That time he had been possessed still caused him nightmares. He still counted his fingers every morning to see whether he was still asleep and dreaming. Therefore, playacting was simple.

It was nearly too easy. Stiles knew combat. He had made an effort to train in the local gym after the Gerard incident AKA his torture. He had taken Karate and practiced with his father sometimes for basics. While he was mostly playing it smart, one time or another his baseball bat had helped and he hadn’t needed to revert back to the basics he had learned at a local gym. It also meant that most people underestimated him.

Stiles wasn’t keen on physical violence but he was smart. Smart enough to know when to know some self-defense and when to downplay it. He knew exactly how to handle guns ever since his mother had passed away. His father was the Sheriff and while he locked his guns away, there might just be the one moment that Stiles could get his fingers on a gun. Hence, he needed to know how to handle it safely. His father also probably anticipated that he wanted to join law enforcement, too.

But most of all, Stiles knew the pain from being forgotten. And once that happened to someone, nothing else could ever hurt as much.

So, when it was finally time to pick a real case, one not yet solved by the FBI, Stiles made a grab for Derek’s file. They had three weeks to make some headway in the case to impress the FBI committee and Stiles wasn’t beyond the tricks to actually call Derek.

And that was opening another box of worms right there.

“So, Derek,” Stiles started after Derek’s “What do you want?” and Stiles’ eye roll and annoyed remark of “Sourwolf, shut up and listen” before Derek followed the request: “how come you ended up in the FBI’s most wanted list?”

Derek cursed: “How the hell do you know about that?”

“Oh, maybe because since the desert, I’ve joined the FBI after graduating?”

“Damn it Stiles!” Derek growled: “You know I didn’t do that.”

Stiles huffed: “I didn’t even go into what this is.”

“Something about mass murder and maiming people?” Derek asked.

“Well, yes,” Stiles answered: “What really happened?”

“Nothing the FBI should ever know about.”

“Not what I asked, Der. So, spill.” 

It was Derek’s turn to sigh and say: “I was meeting with a pack. The pack was slaughtered by hunters. The hunters were then killed by a single shifter. I was tracking Kate Argent…instead of someone else, they found me.”

“How did the FBI end up with footage from Beacon Hills reserve?” 

Both fell silent for a second and then said at once: “Kate Argent.”

“Well, Derek, it looks like I need your help in clearing your name.”

And that was how the box of worms opened.

The box being that Derek’s near death was the point where Derek Hale had come online as a powerful Guide. Hence, the whole being after Kate and the hunters’ thing. The werewolf in him was seeking justice and a mental balance. The Guide in him knew she would always come back to torment him until he had caught her and made her pay.

And the box in Stiles’ part? Stiles had come online as a powerful Sentinel after coming back from the forgotten. The Ghost Riders’ realm of the dead and being forgotten had triggered it in Stiles. Pretty much why he did break it up with Lydia so she could be with Parish. If she liked so. He had to thank his father and Lydia for being back alive, he knew that. He was triggered online by the shock of going from one plane to the next.

But Derek hadn’t been around for Stiles’ coming online. Stiles had meditated and Derek’s wolf - in grey-white colors - had been his Guide. Spirit Animal-Guide. And there was no way Stiles wouldn’t be able to recognize Derek’s Alpha form anywhere, even if the color was the complete opposite and Derek had, in the end, traded his Alpha powers for Cora’s life. The power had to go somewhere and it switched forms to the spiritual plane. Who knows how that actually worked though. Stiles would have to research that.

Texting with Derek had been fun during classes while Stiles was piecing together a solid case of how Kate framed Derek, that also included the arson on Derek’s childhood home and family, as well as the abuse or more like, statutory rape. And the followed-up murders in the first year with the supernatural that he had investigated. His father’s name was on the files but it had been Stiles. 

Therefore, Derek was also digging up the evidence they had of Gerard. There was evidence of Stiles’ torture as Stiles did have witness reports form Boyd and Erica before their deaths, as well as his bruises. Also, Allison and Chris had written testimonies that it was the truth about Gerard’s torture to Stiles. All locked down in the vault under Beacon Hills High School.

And all that was being compiled into a single file. Stiles was getting slightly jittery.

That was, until Derek had come for a short visit for solid evidence. The handing over and getting Derek’s testimony on the events. Videotaped and perfectly timestamped with no open questions but the ones for the supernatural. If you know what to look for.

That was two weeks before Stiles was supposed to intern in one branch for the FBI. Which only lasted about a day or two, depending on the department.

Stiles was allowed to leave Quantico at that point, stating that he wanted to meet a source for a case that his training officer had signed off on. Meeting in a small motel not too far away, Stiles was already seeing a sports car in front of a motel and grinned. Damn, he had missed Derek. The smell was already coming up to him, of Beacon Hills, of the earth, of –weirdly enough – chlorine water, and most of all, the woods.

Stiles was using his next sense to catalogue the area. A few birds, some cars and busses not too far away, the hum of electricity, and then…Derek’s heartbeat. Stiles had once laid on Derek’s chest for a moment and had used that to calm himself down while paralyzed from the neck down. Damn poisonous claws. Stiles made his way to Derek’s room.

The door was thrown open and Stiles was gasping in surprise, eyes meeting Derek’s and Derek’s eyes flashed a brilliant blue, his wolf showing: “Sentinel,”

“Guide,” Stiles replied and should he have warned Derek about this? Probably, but that was neither here nor there now. Derek was dragging him into the room, slamming the door shut behind him and pressing Stiles back against the closed door. It reminded him fondly of the tine when Derek had hidden in his childhood home. But this time, Stiles wasn’t the slightest bit unsure about the situation. 

Stiles’ eyes met Derek’s again, looking at each other, searching for something before Stiles simply reached for Derek’s leather jacket and dragged the other man closer. The first touch of lips sealed the deal.

The bonding was beautiful in Stiles’ point of view. It was everything and placed a whole new point of view into the file that Stiles was compiling to proof Derek was innocent. The merging of minds. The closeness of a Sentinel and a Guide. The mental feel of Derek and his wolf.

Sadly, they were forced to part ways all too soon. A night was all that Stiles had gotten out of the Quantico Academy. Derek was on the way for yet another lead and Stiles got that, it was important and necessary. Stiles had the file to hand in anyways. 

*

“Sir, you’ve got to believe me, Derek Hale is innocent,” Stiles said in front of the small FBI committee that came in to review the evidence he had gathered. They were reviewing any new leads the cadets had dug out and assessed said evidence for errors or misleads. The committee only came out to play when they deemed some compiled evidence worthy on paper to hear the cadet’s reasoning’s as well. This was his opening statement.

The man in front of him was looking at the folder with his name and Stiles was waiting painfully for the moment when he was giving up on his first name. It came as a surprise when the man, Agent Kent, spoke it clearly: “Mr Mieczyslaw Stilinski, I don’t think that someone who was accused of mass murder, was accused on a whim.”

“First of all, the footage of Derek Hale that the FBI has got? Comes from a pedophile and arsonist that has been arrested for child abuse, namely Kate Argent. She was stalking Hale on his property and hunting him like a dog. After burning the house down where the Hale family lived. She locked them in and let them burn. All but three Hales survived.” Stiles said and handed over the evidence from his father’s office in Beacon Hills.

“And that Stilinski on the files here?” Kent asked.

“My father. Though I solved the case after Derek Hale reacted rather harshly to Ms Argent. The following murders were connected to the arson and hence, what my father collected as evidence. Ms Argent faked her own death but we found her again. She escaped and in a means of trying to shake Derek Hale off who tries to get footage of her, she framed him.”

“So, you’re personally involved in the case? You know where the killer is?”

“That so-called killer, is my bonded Guide,” Stiles said: “And you reviewed my morale here more than once.”

"When did you bond, Mr Stilinski? We have you on file as a Sentinel." One person asked.

Stiles sighed and shrugged: “Yesterday, actually. After Derek’s last near-death experience, he came online and set on the path to follow Kate Argent. I, on the other hand, came online much later, when Beacon Hills had that missing person’s bout going on. We met yesterday for the evidence collection. Surprise, we’re a match.”

The quiet in the room was mostly because everyone knew that parting your newly bonded Sentinel or Guide on the first day was immensely stressful. Something to be said only Alphas could do.

One other from the committee cleared their throat: “We all know that bonded pairs are on the same side of the law. Please continue, Sentinel Stilinski,”

And Stiles followed up with the evidence of his own torture, gaining raised eyebrows but a solid case. Then, Kate’s last acts as a werecat, while she was going mad and then, how Derek had followed her trails and was currently cornering him: “My Guide is tracking her down to get her behind bars. Our responsibility to the community doesn’t allow for us to let either one of Gerard or Kate walk free. I’m simply trying to do more after that while Derek is trying to get justice for his family.”

The committee was looking at the evidence, letting Stiles stand in front of them and carefully going over each point. The Guide in the room was looking at Stiles as he was standing there and looking at his phone nervously.

“Expecting a call?”

“My Guide. He wanted to let me know where Kate’s last location was.”

Suddenly, one of the others got a call. Stiles was carefully listening in and got the gist of it: Derek Hale, seen in some warehouse, a team was about to go in soon.

“Can I go with you?” Stiles said: “My Guide hasn’t called back yet.”

The committee was breaking up, the Senior Agent shook his head at him: “I won’t take a rookie FBI cadet into the field. We’re not a sheriffs’ station.”

Stiles tried to let the insult pass and frowned: “If you want to go down in the FBI’s history as the first Agent to deny a Sentinel his rights to their bonded Guide, I expect you go right ahead. Furthermore, I don’t think there’s anyone better to talk to either Derek or Kate, seeing as I have a personal connection to them both. While I think Kate would shoot me on sight anyways, Derek might just not go into a feral state. Additionally, to that, the handbook of the FBI states that no one outside shall attend the cases but I am part of the FBI, even as a cadet. There’s no rule against taking an agent in training into the field.”

(And that was how Derek and Stiles ended up with two versions of the same story. Which, a Sentinel that was being shot at, everyone knew their senses could act up. A lot. Though Derek had to proof that he was still the boss as well, thinking that his being a werewolf and a Guide was somehow making him “the girl” in the relationship. But seriously, Stiles didn’t need to be carried out of the warehouse, much like Derek didn’t need all that much dragging and leaning on Stiles.)

The whole incident at the raided storehouse was a matter that was left unsaid. Stiles had shot down two suspects, had pushed Derek and his senior Agent to one side while using his Sentinel senses to point out where the last bad guy was. All that while bullets were flying. He only registered that a bullet had nicked him at the foot when the pain had set in. Like, Sentinel sensory overload set in. Derek had wrapped his arms around him, shielding him from the mental onslaught and the annoying lecturing from the Senior Agent while said Agent was unaware that the Sentinel cadet was spiking. Hence why it was Derek that had dragged - but not carried - Stiles out and not the other way around.

Downside of getting Derek's name cleared and fully registered as the Guide of a Sentinel, Stiles was sent back to Quantico for a few days. He did have to finish another two weeks of training. The first, Derek had come with him to reaffirm their bond and do some stability and moral tests again for the FBI. That was until Derek left for a follow up lead on Kate Argent and a distress call of a pack in Mexico. Where Derek, as Stiles later found out, met Chris who in turn let him know that Beacon Hills was all under attack. Damn, it sucked when only Stiles had the phone number of Derek and no one else thought to call him. They could have done the whole reaching-out-to-Derek in minutes.

So, Stiles had tried calling his dad – who hadn't answered and Stiles had called the station and asked for Sheriff Stilinski only to have been asked who he was as the Sheriff had been relieved from duty. Like, what the actual fuck was going on?

Stiles had nearly been responsible for his Dad to lose his job once. Before the werewolves-are-real-talk had been held. But that the Sheriff wasn’t on duty? Stiles knew for a fact that the elections weren’t up yet. So, where was he?

Calling Jordan Parish, the hellhound, wasn’t resulting in anything, either. So, where the hell were they? What was going on? Stiles knew better than to call either Scott, Lydia, Malia or Mason. They mostly were engaged in other stuff. He secretly hoped that Malia was in Paris.

Stiles still had one friend at the station and she had actually told him of the so-called-witch-hunt going on. All the basic details of some woman called Monroe coming in and trying to find and out every supernatural being. Oh, surprise there, half of the station always knew there were supernatural cases around but indulged Jordan and the Sheriff. Then they followed with explaining that they had deputies turning on each other, a whole hostage sort of situation where the sheriff was asked to release two teenage kids to be executed. Those kind of witch-hunt things, as those kids were from a shifter family. 

Then, Stiles got to know of all the teenager kids in school that were being tested with a knife in their hand to see if they had instant healing abilities. Stiles felt sick when he heard that and spend some time after that call to collect his wits. What the hell had his family back home gotten in to?

A revised conversation of that conversation, had been played in front of Stiles’ supervisors when asking for leave. Like, how often did you get to play a voice recording where the Sheriff’s station said: “It’s like Hitler came to town and is taking over. Stiles, your father was asked to leave. Everyone’s scared.” 

Said leave, had been granted after pointing out that FBI Agent McCall was missing and he was the father of his best friend – "Seriously, Stilinski, are you connected to everything going on in Beacon Hills?" Kent had asked. And was allowed to leave, with his badge. The badge that had been issued to him but officially was only supposed to be handed out three days from that moment. But Stiles had passed all of his tests written and practical so they had let him go. Without an official gun though, because those things took time. He did have a permit to get another, anywhere, legally, with that though.

And the very real promise to call for backup if things got way out of hand.

Stiles was already miles above the ground – perks of having a badge was Wi-Fi for free as he needed to be available – when Derek had called to let him know that Kate had killed, plain out shot, a full team of FBI Agents that had advanced on her. Stiles felt sick enough to puke but training had taught him better.

The next call had been from his superior agent that was trying to reach him about the same matter. While Stiles hadn’t officially been assigned to any department yet, the lead, Special Agent Kent, on the Derek Hale case was said to be his Senior Agent. Hence, Stiles could actually tell the man first hand that Derek and Chris Argent had been shot at as well. They had seen Kate. Kate had shot them.

It was now time for Stiles to land in the next airport a few towns away. Derek was already in the parking lot outside sitting in Stiles’ Jeep, smiling or rather, smirking at him with his shades on and a I’m-too-cool-attitude that Stiles didn’t feel from his Guide. They took a moment to take a deep breath, kissing and sharing a moment to reaffirm their mental bond in form of a hug. Then they rushed to Beacon Hills.

The sound of bullets hitting metal and cement was what drew Stiles’ attention to where Scott, Malia and the others were fighting. They were cornered. Stiles threw a look at Derek: “I’ll shield them with Betsy.”

“Betsy is your beloved car!?”

“She can take it!” Stiles replied, senses going out to get a sense for his friends. And who was that? He could make out Lydia, Scott and Malia. Peter was by association a next logical thing. But it took Stiles’ eyes to confirm the presence of Deucalion. Deucalion whose heartbeat was changing and slowing down. The man had been hit before they had gotten there. Damn, what Stiles didn’t give for a gun now. The precision of a Sentinel with a handgun was a sight for sore eyes. 

Stiles run over one guy about to take out Scott. One down, plenty to go, and looked out the side window at their friends: “Didn’t think you’re doing this without me, did you?”

Derek leant forward: “Without us?” Derek took that as a means to elegantly jump out of the car and into the fight. Given his new position, he had easy access to quickly take down four of those humans. 

Stiles followed Malia throwing some good punches as well, even Peter did some good fighting. Stiles himself was mostly staying behind a column with Lydia and took stock of where everyone was, not that they were blindsided by that evil bitch Monroe. But she left quickly, realizing she was outgunned. 

It turned quiet really quick. Without the bad guys around and knocked out at least. Stiles was looking at Lydia accusingly: “Can’t believe you didn’t tell me about any of this. Not a word. Not a single word!”

Lydia and he were walking over to Deucalion: “We had reasons. Really good reasons.”

Deucalion was looking at them, Scott crouching in front of him, Derek and Stiles being close. He whispered: “Gerard… what he fears the most… He can’t beat you. And he knows it.” He slowly looked at Derek and Stiles could feel that the man was close to death now: “Take my Alpha power.”

Derek had looked surprised and looked at Scott but Scott was staring at Stiles, surprised to see his friend there. Deucalion continued: "You will need the power for him," he said to Derek: "You are barely in Scott's pack anyways."

Scott had nodded and Derek sighed before extending his claws and helping Deucalion to a quick death, transferring the powers. His eyes flashed red and the power settled back in. Stiles' eyes grew big for a second but it went unnoticed. He could feel the power it gave their Sentinel and Guide bond. He could feel the impression it left on the area and mingled with his Spark. He saw a brief flash of Derek’s spirit animal, a fox – and wasn’t that ironic considering Stiles had been possessed by one – in the shadows before it vanished. Stiles’ own spirit animal, the wolf that looked like Derek, was there as well before disappearing into thin air again.

Damn, that was one power trip. Stiles could feel Derek’s calmness inside of him. He had been outside of the pack like Deucalion had said and with Stiles being his Sentinel, Derek’s loyalty was to Stiles and not some pack. He would have been an Omega forever. That was partly a reason why Guides or Sentinels among werewolves were rare. Stiles theorized that only happened because Derek had died and the recessive genes of a Guide (to the werewolf gene) was coming through to keep him alive.

Stiles sighed and looked at the others: “You better get out of here. I’ll call the cavalry.”

Scott was about to ask but Lydia smiled: “Congrats to making it to FBI Agent.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said and produced a whole bunch of zip ties. He went about to strip search those they had knocked out. He then piled the guns in a corner and cuffed those guys together in a funny way. They wouldn’t get away before the FBI came in. Then, Stiles placed the call to the FBI: “This is Special Agent Stilinski. I am under the supervision of SA Kent and need a team here. I singlehandedly caught some guys shooting a poor man. A coroner would be good as well.”

Scott was about to protest loudly but Stiles held up a hand to silence him. He damn well knew that an autopsy on Deucalion wasn’t a good idea. He hung up the call after a confirmation and went to kneel down on Deucalion: “Magic of the shifters, leave him.”

What little magic was left, flew out into the earth in a rainbow-colored light. Lydia was about to ask but Stiles shrugged: “I learned about my Spark.” Leaving out that the Sentinel abilities had given him access to the spiritual plane where he had gotten a crash course in his Spark-magic.

Stiles then shooed them all away to leave.

Off they went to the McCall's house to plot. After Stiles yelled at Scott for not calling sooner, or telling him about Melissa having been shot or his Dad's situations and what the hell. Stiles was still trying to call his Dad but didn’t get any reception.

“Where is my Dad, Scott?” he asked and something in Scott must have realized how serious Stiles was because the Sentinel in him was pissed off. It probably resonated to Scott’s Alpha in a way that another Alpha was a threat.

“He’s in a bunker in hiding. We have set up a small base to work out of. Jordan has been locked away and he’s about to free him. All hands-on deck.” Scott said: “Hence no cell reception.”

“I hope for your sake he’s well.” Stiles said and then proceeded to tell them how Derek and he had met and what they had been up to.

Lydia smirked at him: “All this time you’ve been gathering evidence together to get them behind bars.”

“Of course. We can’t kill them as we’re better people but that doesn’t mean the law can’t work for us. Especially for Gerard,” Stiles grinned: “and I got to save Derek’s ass again.”

A fact that Stiles was throwing out there on the table with the Pack. Well, that and the talking the committee to allow Stiles to attend the raid. Not the Sentinel and Guide part. He figured they didn't need to know that for now. Lydia knew. She was smart and Stiles' friend. But other than that, it was currently unnecessary information to throw out.

Oh, and he would have to speak at length to Derek about letting Kate walk away. That was a whole cluster fuck that she had killed fellow FBI agents and Stiles was about to track her down. He suspected Chris and Derek having a plan there but he wasn’t sure. Could also have been due that his Guide had been shot down. That would have to wait.

Until after they killed the next evil thing.

Which, you know, was a totally different situation. And Stiles was trying to figure out a plan. He was best at making plans. While Scott was finally more an Alpha than he had ever been before, Stiles had come up with the fine details of the plans. Always had. That’s what he was good at. Scott hadn't been quite able to make the plan work and see the big picture so Stiles had made sure they knew about the Mountain Ash. It was something they didn’t even consider as they weren’t human.

With a plan in hand, they could work. 

What wasn’t so good was the moment Derek turned to stone. Stiles didn’t know who Derek had seen but he guessed it was someone from his family. The thing had used Derek’s family against him, to make him look at it. Stiles was near feral at that point. He had closed his eyes, wrapped some cloth around it so he wasn’t tempted to look. He was using his other senses to feel along. Derek’s heartbeat was still there. He was still alive. It irked Stiles that he had to leave Derek behind in such a vulnerable moment. Anyone could come over and knock him down, essentially killing his Guide.

Tearing himself away, Stiles quickly made his way to the fight Scott had in the library. He had the pouch full of mountain ash and swore to himself to always carry it with him now. Entering, Scott was about to lose. But no, he wouldn’t. Stiles unwrapped his eyes. He had to see for that and knew that only the eyes of that thing could turn him into stone. Quickly, without it being aware, Stiles threw the handful into the room and his Spark connected to the particles instantly, making it easy to manipulate the whole mass. His focus turned to killing everyone in this room but Scott.

Scott smiled at him but Stiles’ focus was already on the persons within the school. Every single werewolf – and what the hell was Jackson doing here? – was in danger. The crumbling away sounds were irritating but Stiles knew the danger first Peter and then Derek were in. After that, he had to focus on Malia or others.

"Behind you, Derek!" Stiles mentally and verbally screamed at his Guide, his eyes and Spark flashing his eyes in a bright white glow while the Bond took care of some part in their communication. His voice was loud enough that probably all werewolves heard.

He heard Peter realizing his situation and Derek's moves to kill those behind him. Only that Monroe was getting away while Peter had been fighting others off.

Not on Stiles' watch. Stiles turned to run.

"Stiles?" Scott was calling after him: "Trigger your healing Scott!" Stiles yelled back before rushing away. He would worry about Scott's eyes in a few minutes. He still had a few minutes before it was a permanent damage.

He caught up to her when she tried getting into one of the jeeps that she didn't have the keys to. She was looking at him and getting back out, smiling at him: "So, and who are you?"

Stiles grinned: "I'm FBI Agent Stilinski." The 'Oh shit' look crossed her features and Stiles continued: "And you broke the law. Furthermore, you tried to get my father, an elected Sheriff, out of his position. You locked in a fellow FBI Agent and called war on my pack."

"You're no werewolf."

"No, I'm Sentinel Alpha to the whole Supernatural," Stiles grinned: "And by pack law, you cannot leave."

She pulled out her gun and laughed: "I won't be stopped."

Stiles' adrenaline response kicked in. One of the perks of training with the FBI as a fully acknowledged Sentinel. He was trained in using all his assets. So, he had disarmed her in mere seconds, holding her by her delicate neck: "You tried to kill my Guide, my father and my whole family. You followed a mad man who tortured children. You are a monster and a crime against nature. By the Spark Powers and Sprit Guides' law, I sanction you to death."

She probably didn't even know what that meant. But Stiles did. The words were coming to him, the power under his fingertips. He saw as well as she did, that suddenly, spirit animals from Stiles and Derek, from victims of her war, were showing up. Stiles' Wolf and Derek’s Fox were biting her. Not physically, no. They were biting her soul.

Her body dropped to the floor, three feet away from Stiles, as Stiles had taken a step back. Behind him, he heard Peter: "So, you're the Alpha Sentinel with the power over the Souls?"

Stiles shrugged: "She's still alive for another few minutes. We should call an ambulance for organ donation."

"You gave her the kiss of death."

Stiles gaped at Peter: "Just for this I will tell everyone you're a Harry Potter fan."

"Takes one to know one."

They were going back in, well Stiles was, Peter was staying outside for the ambulance, while Stiles was looking for Derek. He smiled at his Guide and allowed a brief kiss and an embrace before they made their way to the library where the pack was gathered.

"Scott won't heal," Malia said to Stiles and looked at Derek and him for help. It was Lydia who urged her: "Kiss him."

Stiles had known about them. It was hard not to smell them on each other. Same with Lydia having a trace of Jordan Parish on her. What was more of a surprise was Jackson and Ethan: "He needs to focus, so our beautiful banshee is quite right."

Malia kissed Scott and Scott opened his healed eyes not too much later. His red eyes flashed briefly and Derek's eyes lit up in response. Scott frowned: "Why do you smell like Stiles, Derek?"

Stiles rolled his eyes: "Really Scott? Derek tried to teach you for years to follow your scent and now is the time you follow that advice?"

Scott shrugged: "That didn't answer my question."

"Derek is my Guide. I'm an Alpha Sentinel with a Spark." Stiles said simply: "So you can call me Very Special Agent Sentinel Spark Stiles."

Peter walked up to them then: "Monroe's body is being handled."

"Her body??" Scott frowned: "What did you do?"

"It wasn't me," Peter said and pointed at Stiles: "He send Dementors after her."

"A kiss of death?" Lydia asked: "You can do that?"

"Apparently, yes," Stiles shrugged: "Though it has something to do with the whole Spirit Animal things and being a Spark. Derek's Alpha powers do come in helpful to that. Deucalion knew about it because he had used his senses."

It was Malia that looked at him next: "What about your status as FBI? I thought the graduation wasn't until day after tomorrow?"

Stiles proudly showed his badge: "Oh, I talked them into giving it to me early."

The pack broke out into laughter.

They broke it off then, clearing out of the school and making their ways back to the armory. Stiles had heard from their making plans and Derek that Chris and Kate were involved and on the Gerard-issue. 

Chris was resting peacefully, with a leg propped up against the steel door behind him and looked at Stiles, Derek and Agent McCall approaching: "You want to seriously turn her in?"

"Yes," Stiles agreed: "She is on record. I can make sure she won't escape."

"How? She'd be a werecat in a prison," Chris sighed.

Scott’s father turned to Stiles: "C'mon, Sentinel Junior Agent, tell him."

Stiles grinned: "I am Alpha Sentinel Spark of the Supernatural." Chris' eyes nearly bugged out of his face and Stiles would have laughed if it wasn't serious. Stiles followed up with: "I can have her rendered useless."

"He heard all the Harry Potter references already," McCall said. 

"You can block her magic," Chris asked.

"More or less, yes. It's not quite a block though. She has magic and it has to go somewhere. I will take the magic of her being supernatural out of her body and it will be a spirit animal that will accompany her. So, I would say it is more of a transfer of energy."

"And then she will be placed in prison."

"Yes, luckily enough, DNA is available to the arson in the Hale’s case. Much less the teacher she killed years later. Which means that we're still within the ten years, if barely." Stiles smirked: "She'll go away for a long time."

Derek added: "And the attempted, repeated murder on us. Her DNA is all over the killings of the pack in Mexico and she probably left some trace when she killed the FBI team. She wasn’t careful in hiding her DNA as she is believed dead.”

The door then opened and Kate, completely covered in Gerard's blood, emerged. She couldn't have heard anything though, as the walls were too thick: "Aww, isn't it the little whelp. And Derek, here to have some fun?"

Derek was staying calm but the repulsion was there.

“Leave my Guide alone, bitch,”, Stiles said evenly as he didn’t want to raise to the bait. He got a small nod from Chris, all the while Kate tried to make out who McCall was. Stiles smirked and took his Alpha Sentinel Spark power: "By pack law, I sanction your magic. You will never be able to access that again."

She frowned at him but a second later she knew what this was about. In front of her, was a jaguar, her magic taken out of her. The feline was looking at her with hatred in the spirit animal's eyes: "What did you do?"

"I trapped your magic outside your body. Miss Katherine Argent, as FBI Agent, I will read you your rights. You have the right to remain silent---" Stiles started the Miranda's and McCall didn't have to correct him once in saying those lines while giving him the pleasure of locking away the rapist of his Guide. Derek was content in watching the whole scene and letting Stiles do his job.

Chris smirked at Stiles and nodded his approval as they were leading her away. McCall sighed: "Damn, I will have to let DC know that their Junior Agent, straight from the Academy, just caught one of the biggest fish like it was nothing."

"You've met Stilinski, right?"

"I realize there is more to the kid than I thought," McCall said while Stiles had followed their conversation. They, all four with Kate in cuffs, were walking out, leaving Chris behind to clean up.

When Stiles finally met his father again, the man was wrapping him in a big hug, back in his uniform and station where he belonged. Stiles took a deep breath and analyzed the smell and grinned: "You hit your deputies?"

"I did," Noah shrugged sheepishly: "You made it through FBI academy? I'm proud of you, son."

"Of course, I did," Stiles said then turned to the whole room that was gathered. He knew as well as his Dad did, that some of them wouldn't be in the job much longer. McCall just came back around the corner from where he had locked up Kate until they could transport her and nodded at him again. Stiles said: "If anyone of you, ever again, undermines the authority of an elected Sheriff, I will personally come and see what is up here. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Special Agent Stilinski. As in, Sheriff Stilinski's son. You mess with him, you mess with the FBI."

Some were actually looking down and away. Stiles singled them out with his sight and read their nametags. Those would be without a badge soon enough. Parish was smiling at him and Stiles patted him on the back: "Awesome control you now have over your powers, buddy."

"Likewise, Sentinel," Jordan said and smirked: "I heard you did my job of sorts?"

"Oh, no, not you, too!" Stiles winced: "I'm a Spark, I'm a Sentinel, nothing unusual about that."

Derek was leaning back against some wall and smirked at his Sentinel. Jordan was nodding at him and shaking his hand as he was walking past the other man and quietly said: “Take care of Sentinel Stiles.”

“I will.” Derek replied.

"Son," Noah started in his "tell me now, I'm your father" voice. 

Derek explained: "He is essentially a lawyer and judge for the supernatural. Jordan is more the police really, while Stiles can magically sentence someone to death or render them incapable of using their magic again. Hence, making it possible to imprison someone with the regular humans without causing harm. It is believed that there are about eight or seven in the world that have the same ability. It is a rare gift. Usually, you're one or the other."

"Great, I just became an FBI Agent, I can't work with that and the supernatural," Stiles sighed. 

McCall made a gesture in the back but then didn't follow it through. Apparently, something he knew that Stiles didn't. And Stiles had realized he moved. He would have to wait, it seemed: "Can we all fall into bed now? I'm tired and the sun is already creeping up over there. That means I was awake for exactly thirty-two point five hours."

"Do you have a Guide?" Noah asked interested while wrapping a hand around Stiles' shoulder and indicating at Jordan to see that those singled out Deputies were put back on probation after a week of leave without payment. Following the next Hitler-wannabe was a serious crime. Only that the latest evil thing was partly responsible for that, made the slight difference not to fire them on the spot. But there was a huge rift in their station now and he would wait a bit before deciding what to do. They had to trust their fellow officers and with them all knowing about the Supernatural now, it could come to yet another incident.

Stiles brought him out of his thoughts: "Oh, I do. And he's amazing. All grumpy and sour-wolfy," Derek tried not to cringe but remained where he stood. This was Stiles’ father and it was his decision how to tell him.

"Sourwolf?" Noah asked and then did a double take: "Derek?!!" he looked at the man in question. Derek simply shrugged in a “what can I do?” matter.

"Hey now Dad, no name calling. He's a great Guide. Very protective and an Alpha again," Stiles grinned, stepping up next to Derek and reaching out for Derek’s hand: “He’s grounding me, he’s awesome in fighting and in planning and all that.”

Noah looked at them both and smiled in relief. At least a werewolf wasn’t easy to kill and Derek had come back from worse: “Good, so, who’s up for some food?” Derek and Stiles were right behind the Sheriff on their way to the next diner and curly fries.

All in all, Stiles made it back to Quantico for the Ceremony. With Derek and his father in attendance. He was singled out in the presenting of the official document with the words of the Director pointing out the high-profile case of Kate Argent having been solved with the arrest due to him. His fellow classmates were openly staring at him. The Director was congratulating him and handing over a letter with the document. Same as everyone else had gotten. Just, Stiles’ probably was something else.

Which was why Stiles wasn't all that surprised when he was approached for a placement back in Beacon Hills. Well, more like, in McCall's office for a sub-sub-sub unit for the weird and strange. It was as if the FBI did know about the X-Files after all. Well, that and the knowledge of what Stiles was. There was a whole file on him alone.

But basically, Stiles had a card blanche in placement within the FBI. The Director had written down the Supernatural division. Ironically, the Y-Files. Stiles chuckled when he had read that. While McCall wasn’t in Beacon Hills nor the Y-Files, Stiles could work with the man but he still hated the man partly for leaving Melissa and hitting Scott when he had been a drunk. That wasn’t something Stiles’ Sentinel could agree with.

Then there was the future to consider. Where was the best possibility to get his Guide as a partner? Which position was better for making a career? Which one was better to be on hands if the Pack needed help?

And Derek? Well, he was officially asked to be a consultant. Stiles would prod at him to go through FBI training soon. After all, he could pretty much talk all of them into doing what he wants. Probably a side effect of his Spark and smart brain. 

Which, all in all, suited Stiles just fine. They still had to do some cleanup of Gerard's and Munroe's left-over followers. And recruiting new pack members that were now alone as their whole packs had been wiped out. Weirdly enough, Derek and Stiles were content to be part of Scott's pack and not seek some other betas for Derek. The bond gave them stability enough. He was content with his life.

Just, the fact that everyone now code-called him Dementor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this turned out longer than I thought  
> enjoy and please let me know what you think?

  
image with thanks to RPDots. 

Derek and Stiles had talked at the Ceremony about the offer letter Stiles had held in his hands. He was looking at his father as well and they were all three standing together in a corner. Stiles was trying to be quiet and on the low but the outing of the director that he was the one solving a high-profile case was making his classmates corner him. Stiles hadn’t exactly made friends, that with spewing his drink in his fellow’s neck, and overall being a Sentinel and the special training they got in the academy. The three fellow Sentinels and Stiles were as a result rather left out of their classmates’ normal rotation but that was the norm. Besides, Stiles having gained his Guide in the academy was quietly discussed as well, since they weren’t exactly left alone to leave the place all but for a few tests.

So, standing in the corner with his father in civil clothes but proudly pinned Sheriff’s badge and Derek in a blood-red shirt and a leather jacket, was screaming for looks.

“What do you mean, they offered me a place in the academy?” Derek asked in surprise: “What about you?”

“I mean they said you would be welcome if you wanted to attend the FBI academy so we could end up working together in the Y-Files. They know about you, they have a full file with the werewolves and all that. But a bonded Sentinel and Guide pair in that division is what they want. I would be going out on cases on some trips but will stay close or in Quantico to make sure you are getting the training. They also promised to take some time to train us together as there are very few bonded pairs that both work in the FBI. It’s apparently something to do with that most pairs end up after going through the academy.”

Stiles tried to explain that and was secretly hoping Derek would take them up on the offer. He was looking at his father as well: “Dad?”

“Leave me out of this, son. This is something you and Derek have to discuss. While I would miss you, I always knew that you would not stay in Beacon Hills.”

“Oh, but that’s the whole point with the Nemeton being there, Dad. All sorts of supernatural will be attracted there so the Y-Files have two headquarters. That’s at least what they told me. One here in Washington DC and one in California. They didn’t tell me where yet but they plan on moving it to Beacon Hills. Hence, Derek and I would eventually, probably most likely, end up there.”

“I’d love working with you if it means not having to see McCall,” Noah grumbled and then muttered something about getting a drink. It was a timed exit so that Derek and Stiles had a few moments to think about the FBI’s offer for Derek. It would affect them as the new cadets would essentially start the following day. Derek would only skip the ethical screenings as he was bonded to Stiles and norm dictated that it was unnecessary. Especially as Derek was a Guide. A Guide was pressured, yes, but essentially, they had different, additional scans to perform anyways but that was being done throughout the training.

“Would you really go on cases without me while I’m in training?” Derek asked quietly.

“I talked them into letting me join a big op, Der, I think I can convince them to have my Guide brought along,” Stiles smirked. 

Derek was hesitating and Stiles looked at the other man closely, opening up some of the shields he had held tight due to the environment with many people that were excited. The flood of emotions he got from Derek were surprising him. Hope, happiness, dread, doubt, love, excitement and content. Stiles wondered what that all meant and waited for Derek to tell him.

“I want to be an FBI agent, rather than just Stiles’ Guide,” Derek admitted: “But I worry about the werewolf situation.”

“Derek, a whole bloody town found out supernatural beings exist. What do you think how long will that take before the rest of the world catches up? Gerard had spread the word far and the fear is out there, even without a supernatural catalyst. Having a werewolf as FBI when that happens? Will show them among other things that you are human beings as well. That you as a species are not the monsters and can follow rules. I don’t like making you the example you’re probably going to be but we should be prepared for that as well. You being my Guide has you partly on the FBI list either way.”

Derek smiled at him and shook his head in a small manner: “I knew you already thought of every angle to this.”

“Have you met me?” Stiles asked and indicated Agent Kent: “We should tell him you’ll be joining the cadets tomorrow. And that I will stick around here before Y-Files.”

Derek rolled his eyes but knew Stiles had picked up on the whole matter of Derek accepting the offer: “I want to tell him by myself.”

“Good,” Stiles smiled: “I will try tracking down our eventual new supervisor,” Stiles indicated the name on the letter to the division he had gotten. The irony on the man’s name wasn’t lost on Stiles; Hunter Wood. Whoever had named that poor kid back then obviously hadn’t thought it through. That or they knew the guy was ending up a supernatural hunter.

Stiles quickly looked around the room for his Dad and found him in conversation with some special agent of another division and Stiles sent a text to his Dad’s phone should he be looking for Derek or him in the next few minutes.

Making his way through the crowd, name tags searching, Stiles bumped into one of his fellow cadets that was rather envious of Stiles’ arrest and special treatment: “Oh Stiles, made it to the ceremony. We thought that you’d be missing it, seeing as you got special treatment all through the training.”

Stiles rolled his eyes: “Not exactly special treatment. I merely found leads, followed them and solved a case. Basically, what we all will be doing eventually. Well, all but you as you are joining the analysis and will be staying out of the field. But that is what we all signed up for and they matched us to our abilities.”

“Yeah, special Sentinel abilities you mean…that without a bondmate at that.”

Before Stiles could reply, a man behind him walked up: “Mieczyslaw Stilinski, I presume?” the man looked at Stiles and Stiles saw the “Agent Wood” name tag, before the man turned to the other agent: “Agent Smith, I believe that you are out of line, seeing as you barely passed the academy all together. Agent Stilinski has passed all of his tests with the highest mark. That with solving a case where multiple fellow agents had been killed. All while he additionally had training to absolve as a Sentinel. Which means, he had even less time to study than his classmates did. Where is your excuse for the special treatment now?” Wood shook his head: “I being to regret signing up on your passing.”

Stiles suddenly knew that Woods was one of the four deputy directors that was reviewing cadets and candidates for the bureau. It was interesting to say the least and Stiles hoped that having two directors liking Derek wasn’t making it worse for his Guide.

Smith was angry at the involvement of someone else and Hunter followed his leaving with: “I’ll add that to his file right away.” Stiles liked the man, knowing instantly that you were written up for not following the rules in basic human treatment. If you didn’t like someone, you left them the hell alone. If you had to work with someone you didn’t like, you stay civil and don’t talk more than basic protocol. That wasn’t hard to get.

“Agent Wood,” Stiles said right away: “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, Agent Stilinski,” the man smiled: “So, are you accepting my offer to join the Y-Files?”

“I would be honored, Sir,” Stiles nodded: “My Guide is currently speaking to Agent Kent to get signed in by tomorrow, though.”

“Ah, just what I had hoped,” Hunter said: “We are a very small division and have four agents working for us. With you and Guide Hale it would be up to six. I won’t go into further detail in a crowd like this but I am pleased to have a Spark and a Sentinel at that.”

Stiles nodded and was glad that Spark was a rather strange word for a regular human and easily dismissed: “Please let me know when and where to report for duty,”

“Oh nonsense,” Hunter said: “May I call you Stiles?” Stiles nodded: “Please call me Hunter. I know that might be a bit weird seeing as you know Argents, but we all go by first names in our division. Your codename of your friends has already made rounds and we will use this as your actual call sign on radio.”

“Dementor? Are you kidding me?” Stiles asked surprised: “Of course, Hunter, sir, but where am I supposed to be tomorrow?”

“First of all, I will call you with details when we get a new case. While we don’t get told about a lot of cases, we will have downtime to research and help others out. As you are a Spark, I want you trained. While your official time at the academy is over, your Guide starting tomorrow will allow for us to have you trained as a Spark. I called in a favor with a magician that will train you a bit more as I expect your current level of the kiss of death was rather accidental knowledge. It will grant you some more time with your Guide because I know you haven’t been bonded for long.”

Stiles was slightly baffled: “You are willing to train me? Oh wow, thank you!”

“It is necessary as you are one of eight people in the world with that power over magic, Stiles. You are required to know exactly what to do with sentencing a non-human and how to punish them or lock them up. We don’t want an Eichen House situation here.” Hunter explained.

“Sounds like a plan,” Stiles agreed. He then threw his head around: “DAD!?” he yelled and ran off to where he knew his father was. Hunter was following him as well while Noah was standing pretty much where he had been left after talking to the one agent and was staring onto space. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Agent Kent – who had followed Derek’s run to Noah – asked.

“He just came online as a Sentinel,” Derek said quietly. Stiles looked at Derek in surprise: “Can you draw him out?”

“I can,” Derek said and used his Guide gifts to help Noah. Kent and Hunter were looking along in surprise and a second later, Noah was back to the world, Derek showing him how to build shields and Noah was adapting quickly: “What the hell?”

“You came online, Dad,” Stiles said quietly: “I don’t know why.”

“It is rather late in life,” Hunter agreed: “Perhaps it has something to do with the Nemeton’s location?”

“It could be the case,” Derek said: “Guides and Sentinels are protectors and Mr Stilinski knows about the happenings.”

“What’s the Nemeton?” Kent asked and all four other men looked at another before Hunter sighed: “Y-Files stuff.”

“Ah, I won’t ask then,” the man said and Stiles smirked at the ‘don’t –ask-don’t- tell’ politics going on.

“Stiles, what am I supposed to do now?” Noah asked.

“We get you stable and you return home and look for your Guide, Dad. You’ll be fine!” Stiles said easily: “And before you know it, Derek and I will be there to help you out.”

“I never expected this. I mean, I’ve been kidnapped, I have been shot at, I should have come online then?”

“Not necessarily. We still don’t know how it works but it could be related to Stiles’ coming online. You’re his father and want to protect him and Stiles hasn’t been online for that long. Who knows, maybe your Guide came online as well.” Derek said.

The small commotion Noah had caused was over quickly as they were led to a side room of the main hall. Stiles and Derek were looking at each other, then shoring up the mental shields to include Noah as well for a while.

Noah thanked them with a nod: “Are you starting tomorrow, Derek?” the man asked, mindful of the decisions they had wanted to make.

“Yes,” Derek said: “We will stabilize you before then.”

“And I will start with the Y-Files and a training in my spark,” Stiles smiled brightly: “Who knows, maybe I will finally know how the powers of the Nemeton work.”

Noah nodded but was also worried. Hunter then straightened and said: “I will leave you now. Stiles, accompany Derek tomorrow. The Magician will come to you. I will arrange for one of our agents who is also a Guide to accompany your father to Beacon Hills. We do want to set up an office there and they will be scouting a location for a small branch.”

“Thank you,” Stiles and Noah said together while Kent was retreating as well as it was a quiet family matter.

Stiles and Derek were renting out a room next to Noah in the local hotel. They had decided not to discuss any other arrangements before having a definite answer on Stiles’ position. While Derek wasn’t one too keen on moving where his Sentinel dictated, they would have to figure something out. That matter was now more or less covered as Stiles and Derek were assigned a room together at Quantico. When Stiles was needed somewhere else, FBI paid for the travel anyways.

While trying to fall asleep, Stiles was keeping an ear out for his father and realized quickly that Derek was doing so as well. They were both rather restless and wired, too wired to sleep. The many changes that were to come were among their minds and while they wanted to talk about it, had to talk about it, they couldn’t just yet.

“I wonder who’ll be your father’s Guide.”

“Yeah, me too,” Stiles sighed right before his phone vibrated on the table. Stiles sighed and looked at the screen, surprised to see Lydia calling him: “Lyds?”

“Hey Stiles,” she greeted him: “I’m sorry to call you this late but Melissa just came online as a Guide.”

“Waaait, what??? Melissa is- Lydia, my dad just came online as a Sentinel…” Stiles rubbed a tired hand over his face: “Crap.”

Derek had listened in on the conversation and sat up in surprise, Stiles was pressing the button for the speakers: “I thought Melissa and Chris were getting it up together?”

Lydia’s voice came over next: “Chris also came online. As a Sentinel.”

“Errr….do you think what I think?” Stiles asked after a second’s pause. This was really a surprise and Stiles had to think of something else. 

“Your father, Melissa and Chris?” Lydia asked rhetorically: “Yes, Stiles. I guess you’re right.”

“Oh damn, I can’t deal with this,” Stiles gasped and Derek placed a hand on his chest above his heart to calm him down. Derek rubbed soothing circles over his heart and told him to take a breath. Stiles followed suit before focusing back on Lydia who had kept quiet: “We will be staying here for another while. Can you-“

“I will take care of them, I promise,” Lydia said: “Scott is staying here for Melissa as well and we’re pack. You know we’ll take care of them.”

“Thank you,” Stiles said: “Take care Lydia.”

They disconnected the call and Derek chuckled lightly. Stiles punched him a bit and shook his head: “I can’t believe this!”

Derek chuckled with him: “What, you finally getting Melissa as your mom or that your Dad has probably two matches?”

“Both! Like, for real! Just imagine, if Allison-“ Stiles stopped and gasped briefly. The loss of their friend was still hard on them. Allison, the brave archer that had stormed their hearts even with her misguided belief for a short moment. Allison, who had bordered death with Scott and Stiles to save their parents. 

The Nemeton. The moment when Scott, Allison and Stiles had followed the druid ritual to conquer death to find their parents. Damn it, it should be a clue: “Der, the Nemeton. Our parents were in there. Could it have-“

Derek looked at him in surprise: “Allison would have been changed as well then?”

“Yes, but she died before coming online. Damn it!” Stiles yelled in frustration: “And because Scott is a true Alpha and came online, Allison is dead and I am the only one, it’s not enough to guard the Nemeton and it wants more?”

“That would make sense. They were trapped underneath the tree and are the direct, next solution. It makes sense as they have been through a lot and we just killed another thing that got free. We’re not around, Stiles. We’re here and it wants another Sentinel and Guide.”

“But coming online so late in life, is a problem. It’s going to be hard on them,” Stiles frowned: “I mean, I came back from the Ghostriders, I was happy to be remembered and to be there, to be solid. I didn’t realize I had come online until much later. Like, I realized I could hear my Dad’s cruiser around. I could feel him around and keep track of my pack. We were busy back then again and I somehow instinctively knew what I was doing. I only registered as a Sentinel when I zoned over my studying in school.”

“And you think it will be different for them?”

“I mean, my dad just zoned while coming online. Hell yes it will be different,” Stiles said and let himself be dragged back down onto Derek’s chest, enjoying the physique of his Guide, that of his werewolf.

“He has his Guide and apparently another Sentinel around him,” Derek reminded him: “You had to do this alone for barely a year before we met.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long before we met,” Stiles whispered and relaxed. He did another checkup of his dad’s sounds before letting himself drift off as well.

The next morning was busy. Derek and Stiles brought Noah to the doors of Quantico where another Guide was waiting on them. The female Agent was tough looking and smiled at them: “Sentinels Stilinski, Guide Hale? I am Guide Zoe McIntosh and here to escort you to Beacon Hills.”

“Nice to meet you,” Noah said easily while Stiles smiled at the woman. She had short, spiky blond hair and was small but of a solid built. She was neither overly pretty nor ugly, simply average of her features and Stiles realized that moment that she was chosen as an FBI Agent for that reason. She was normal, plain average and someone that would be overlooked in a crowd. Nonetheless, Stiles knew she was tough, smart and probably one of the best to work in the Y-Files.

After introductions were made, Noah hugged Derek briefly and his son tightly before promising to keep them updated on the new abilities and walked off. Stiles and Derek turned to the gate of Quantico and Stiles smirked at Derek: “Ready?”

Surprising himself, Derek answered with an honest, quick: “Yes.”

Stiles took his badge and showed the guard on duty: “Special Agent Stilinski and Guide Cadet Hale.”

“Ah, yes, the late additions,” the guard said and passed a nametag to Derek: “Mr Hale, this is your ID while you’ll be staying here. The doors accessible will open with said ID. Please assemble in the hall, following the signs, until further notice. If you lose your badge, please report it immediately. Any questions you have, I’m sure Agent Stilinski can answer.”

Derek took the badge and clipped it to his shirt and signed the form for receiving said ID. They were let through and Stiles walked the way that was also labeled clearly until they arrived in the dining hall.

Stiles was standing there and nodded at Derek: “You will get an orientation here. By jogging around the whole campus. I shouldn’t follow you in because you won’t make friends this way. I don’t know if they really will let us stay here together but it could be that you get assigned a roommate. I was roomed single for a Sentinel reason and it was hindering me of making friends.”

“You were always easy to befriend, Stiles. All anyone who wants to be your friend had to do was stick close and accept who you are. It’s their fault for not getting to get to know you. You probably tried to chat everyone up at one point. I am less of a likeable person.”

“No, Sourwolf, you appear to be broody and snarl at everyone but you’re the same. Stick close and you turn out to be loyal to the last fiber in you. You try to push everyone away with growling at them. You’re likable, if they take the time to get to know you.”

“I figured out how we’re such a good match,” Derek said with a smile. Stiles nodded, kissed his Sentinel and hugged him: “Have fun.”

Derek nodded and walked in. Stiles followed him with his senses for a moment and then nodded at Kent from across the campus that was eying him. The man then waved him over and Stiles followed suit: “Agent Kent,”

“Agent Stilinski,” the mad greeted: “What are you still doing here?”

“As you know, my Guide started. And Wood has no use for me untrained so I’m waiting for some special instructor to come along. Whenever that will be,” Stiles shrugged.

“C’mon Kid, until that person shows up, you can join me in greeting the new cadets. I need an instructor for a group tour as one called in sick today. Who better to use than someone barely having graduated?”

“How many Sentinel and Guides have joined up?” Stiles needed to know. He needed to know if Derek and he were left alone.

“Sadly, not one besides Hale,” the man sighed and shook his head: “The past years the numbers are dropping. We get updates from Sentinel and Guide centers to maybe recruit interesting candidates but the past years, barely more than forty Sentinels and forty Guides each are coming online. Ten years ago, it used to be over three hundred each.”

Stiles nodded: “Any reason as to why? And I don’t mean the official papers that are being released.”

“I’m not a Sentinel or Guide myself, Stilinski. I don’t get told that stuff,” Kent sighed: “I’m glad you are here with your Guide. There was talk to train your Guide while you’re halfway across the country.”

Stiles nodded and walked with the man to the entrance of a side building: “Anything else I need to know about introduction here?”

“You take your Guide, anyone else I’ll direct your way. You know the rules, you know the handling of the training gun, you know the running parkour and you know where to get the uniforms and bedsheets. Bring them back here by dinnertime and we’re good.”

Laughing a bit, Stiles mock-saluted: “Just let me know if my instructor comes along.”

“Will do,” Kent agreed and they entered a building where two other instructors were waiting. Stiles knew them from his training time just last week. He got a frown and a raised eyebrow but Kent didn’t comment nor acted like Stiles was out of place. The two female agents had nothing much to do with Stiles besides classes, one, Agent Silva, was the law instructor and was head of Hogan’s while Agent Espinoza was their physical trainer with tactical and weapons. Kent was crime scenes, procedures and paperwork while the missing agent Stiles was replacing today, Agent Reynold was their psychologist and body behavior with undercover skills. One other agent came in once in a while to train on other topics.

Walking into the room, Derek’s eyes focused on Stiles’ right away as he lined up with the other instructors and the welcome speech was made. Stiles was introduced with the others as an instructor but only part time. After the first basic questions were answered, Kent spoke: “Now, first task. Split up into even groups so each of us instructors have the same trainees. And to make it more difficult, the guy last applying for this training program will sort themselves to Stilinski.”

Derek’s snort was audible in the room but many couldn’t place it. Stiles’ focus was on each one in the room but he did register the amused look from Kent while the fellow instructors looked puzzled. Stiles had told others he was a Sentinel about two months in. He didn’t have to as a special trainer was coming in for those studies. For Derek, that would be someone else again.

“What are you waiting for? Time’s a wasting!” Kent bellowed and all people started to sort themselves. All but Derek who was walking up to the front to stand behind Stiles. It took a moment for the fellow cadets to catch on that Derek was the last addition and how many they actually were. Once sorted, Kent said: “My team is group one. Espinoza’s are two, Silva’s are three and Stilinski’s are four. Remember those guys, that’s your orientation number for classes and all sort of things from now on. Thanks to name tags, I already know who’s in which group so no swapping around. Now, off you go, get your trainers and follow your instructor.”

Stiles turned to his group: “You have five to change and meet me outside this hall.”

The others followed and went off to do so, all but Derek who was looking at Stiles with a smirk and his running shoes and jogging pants already on. While he had gotten looks for his look, Stiles had prepared him.

“Is that cheating?” Derek asked in a quiet voice.

“Only if you come in last,” Stiles laughed and shook his head: “C’mon big guy, we can’t be late.”

Espinoza was looking at them with a frown but was too far away to hear Stiles and Derek’s exchange over the last leaving cadets.

Stiles then led the group he had through the campus on a trail Kent had given him while they randomly passed the other groups on their way to the different locations. Stiles knew the path well, as they would be running said loop every day and to top it up, Stiles left the parkour through the adjacent woods for last. He got glares from his trainees but secretly laughed when Derek caught on to his mischief.

You didn’t know what pure exhaustion was until you were fighting with werewolves. That was one lesson Stiles had learned and never, not once, in his training time had he gotten as exhausted as when Derek had been a dead weight in a swimming pool for two hours.

Not that he wanted to remember that.

Stiles was then looping them around next to their living quarters: “So, this is your floor. You can pick a room and place your key in front. Male with male, female with female. If you don’t have a roommate, chances are one of the other groups will fill your spot. It could also be that you will have to look for a room on a lower level if you can’t find a placement.” Stiles shooed them away but shook his head negatively to Derek whom he let a few steps back and around a corner: “This is yours.”

“Ours?” Derek as quietly enough that only Stiles would pick it up. Derek probably already knew there were no other Sentinels or Guides around.

“Maybe,” Stiles replied quietly, only for werewolf hearing: “I don’t know yet. Neither does Kent.”

Derek nodded and placed his card on the door. Stiles didn’t have a trainee’s badge therefore he couldn’t use the same means. Anything else access wise, he hadn’t been given.

Once everyone had a room, Stiles smirked: “I know some of you were halfway to the showers already before realizing something.”

“No towels!” someone called out and Stiles nodded: “Yep, hence, we’ll get your stuff. Follow me.” And off they went. 

After that, they were allowed to remove their brought in bags from the welcoming room and could settle in and shower.

Stiles was never happier that he had then been given his access key to his former Sentinel friendly room. The same Derek was using.

*

A few days passed where Stiles was stepping in. Mostly those first few days consisted of overall orientation, knowledge and stuff that Stiles could easily pick up. That was until the third day when Reynold came back. Stiles was a bit sad that he couldn’t in a way supervise Derek like this but was quite happy to learn that not a day later, Derek and he had gotten two special instructors that were training them in bond matters.

Two fellow FBI agents that Stiles mentioned were kick ass. One female Sentinel, Sarah Lincoln with her Guide Suzanne Williams. Both women were on hands for the local Center but also for any alphabet soup there was. And Stiles and Derek got to train under them as a pair. It involved basic knowledge such as walking Katas, breathing in sync and how their shields mostly worked. Then they were taught the theoretical work of the spiritual plane, though Stiles knew this only applied for the non-supernatural part. It still helped a lot.

After those basic skills were taught, Sarah and Suzanne started on mental torture they could feel through the bond on each other or victims and know when one was in trouble and where to find your bonded when one was in trouble. After that, they taught Stiles the smells of diseases, biochemical or gunpowder while Derek all the while was his anchor to not zone but secretly learned all those smells and sounds right alongside Stiles. Being a werewolf had its perks.

While Derek was in his regular class, Stiles finally got to meet his instructor a week later. The man was rather tall, slim and had a bald head, no spectacles as one would presume but wore jeans with a suit vest. Otherwise, the man seemed to be a regular human, weren’t it for some herbs Stiles could smell that were protective, or the amulet on the chain on his neck, or the ring made of silver with charms. The man was all over with sigils and signs that fended off the supernatural.

Secretly, Stiles wondered how the man would react to meeting Derek. Probably all warning bells would go off, right after disbelief of a Guide being a werewolf.

“I’m Harold Miller,” the man introduced himself and Stiles returned the favor with his Agent status.

“I was told you’re a Sentinel with a Spark,” the man said and they took a seat outside in the slightly warm weather. Stiles’ eyes were tracking group four across the distance on the parkour. 

“That I am,” Stiles shrugged: “I can handle mountain ash and instinctively took someone’s magic from their body so they could serve a sentence as a human. I also sentenced one to death, basically, as my spirit animal tore the soul apart. I didn’t mean for that.”

The man nodded and smiled: “Well, now that I’m here, this will change. Don’t expect anything like Harry Potter going on though.”

Stiles burst out laughing and shook his head: “My friends call me Dementor after the thing with the soul-kiss.”

The man had the humor to laugh at that as well but quickly corrected Stiles: “You inflicted pain on the soul and the soul didn’t die as such. It left the body as with the Dementors, that is correct but only as much as is due. If the person had only killed once, they would be mentally damaged to never hurt another soul. If the person killed a lot, it would tear the soul from the body to begin anew or go to hell.”

“So, I did kill her,” Stiles said. He still felt slightly bad but in the end, Quantico had taught him to deal with shooting to kill someone. He figured it was much the same. That and the fact that he was a Sentinel.

“Stiles, it is more like Karma. She gets what is her due. I heard about Kate Argent and how she survived while she was essentially evil. You chose a different method because you could. Monroe was human and you sent Karma on her. The balance as a Sentinel and with the magic is small. As a Spark, you will always feel connected to the magic in others or around you. Being closer to the Nemeton will affect you. You will be more black and white because it influences you to be more thorough. I’m not saying it is sentient but you feel the power and act for it. You bring the balance nature needs. You will only ever judge someone accordingly.”

“So, I won’t go around and randomly kill people because they’re human but committed crimes against the Supernatural?”

“No, the Spark in you is just a conduit to use magic as a weapon. We will train so you will use it just as effectively and instinctively as your high adrenaline response or your service weapon.” Harold said and followed Stiles’ eyes: “What has caught your attention there?”

“My Guide,” Stiles replied easily: “the one currently fighting all other cadets off.”

Harold looked on and blinked in surprise. Stiles knew it was the moment he had caught on: “He is a werewolf.”

“Yes, and I was possessed by a kitsune. We’re rather unlikely for a pair.”

“Quite so, but I belief having a supernatural mate is what makes this special. You will be an even better judge as if you were just stumbling across the supernatural or a victim of it.”

Stiles got it, he did. He somehow liked Harold because the guy wasn’t nearly half as cryptic as Deaton was. And Stiles listened.

The training with Harold was going on for barely two weeks, which mostly consisted of meditation sessions and getting a better read on his gut feelings and interpreting mystical signs namely from spirit animals that tended to speak in riddles. 

Derek had joined them only once as he was focused on his training and studying with Sarah and Suzanne whenever they could.

Kent was having special means and was glad that no one had figured out Derek didn’t have a classmate as a roommate. But after Reynold was back, Stiles was pretty much disappearing from the cadet’s view other than being seen at mealtimes with the fellow Agents and Harold or across campus when he was going someplace.

It was one rainy afternoon when Hunter Wood was coming into Harold’s and Stiles’ session with a grim face: “Stilinski, you’re up.”

“What’s wrong?” Stiles asked and Harold looked interested as well but the man was a civilian if magician.

“We have a rough wereanimal that probably did some damage, not knowing they did so,” Hunter shrugged: “You will come with me to Montana.”

Stiles nodded and reached for the folder Hunter had with him. He looked at Harold: “Thank you for all the help, I guess. Will you be available for calls?”

“Anytime, Stiles. I would have stayed another few days with you but must admit that it suits me as well. Leaving would have been put off another few days but this means I simply return home sooner than I must. You do have my number and are always welcome to call.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said sincerely again and with a nod, flipped the file open, skimming it briefly. He gulped: “This looks like the Dread Doctors.”

“The what?” Hunter asked and Harold stopped in his movements before pretty much hurrying away quickly. Stiles didn’t judge him.

“Oh, you mean you don’t know about them?” Sassy wasn’t really a good idea with your superior but Stiles forgot that right now because he had been scared to hell of them. Only to face them again?

“It’s probably best that you do. Harold seemed spooked?” Hunter asked.

Stiles sighed: “I need my Guide for his. They travel on a different frequency, they use bunkers that smell really bad and use genetic experiments that make it really hurtful and probably not easy on my senses. The last time we faced them, I wasn’t online.”

“Then go get him,” Hunter said simply: “Tell whichever instructor he’s on case with you.”

Stiles smirked and then nodded, briefly orientating himself in regard to Derek’s location in the gym. He walked off to the side and was slightly surprised to learn that Derek had closed himself off enough not to register Stiles there right away. It was good to stay focused to learn the basics but he would have to talk to Suzanne and Sarah about this in Hogan’s training. Not that Derek wasn’t a skilled fighter when his claws were allowed to come out.

Stepping into the room at the sideline, Stiles knew the instructors had made him right away but he was content focusing on Derek. He realized that already, the trainees were one person short in training.

Making his way to Espinoza, Stiles nodded at her: “I need Hale.”

She frowned at him and Derek was already moving away from the two others he was training with: “Stiles?”

“I’m assigned to a case,” Stiles said: “I need you with me.”

“Anytime, Sentinel,” Derek replied, tipping their hand.

Espinoza was looking at them in surprise but understood it right away: “If you help me out for a second first, Agent Stilinski, I need a partner to show the next set of fighting.”

“Sure,” Stiles smiled and the whistle blew to call for attention in the room. Stiles looked at Espinoza: “Fair warning, you remember my training?”

“I do,” Espinoza said: “Please don’t harm me.”

“If I may?” Derek cut in.

Espinoza nodded: “Go ahead.” She leant back and called out: “Watch Agent Stilinski and cadet Hale.”

Stiles communicated what Derek had to do to attack him in a means to show the move and Derek did without hesitating. He trusted Stiles. Stiles in the practiced move, flipped Derek around, twisting his arm in a telltale handcuff position and tumbled him down on the floor. 

Espinoza whistled: “That looked effortlessly.”

“Perks,” Stiles replied and let Derek up off the floor. Stiles nodded at Derek: “Your turn.” And Stiles attacked the same way, Derek effortlessly twirling and twisting Stiles around until the other was on the floor. Derek only missed a small gap as he was a skilled fighter but not in jujitsu on the floor. Stiles twisted and suddenly was atop of Derek, smirking at the other.

Espinoza taught on: “That is why you need to keep a close attention to how much space you allow your suspect to have. Agent Stilinski used the smallest leverage to twist back out. We need to avoid that. Mr Hale, Agent Stilinski has requested your leave. You have been granted.”

Derek looked at Stiles with a raised eyebrow: “And you couldn’t have told me that before wiping the floor with me?”

“Where would be the fun in that?” Stiles called back, leaving for Derek to follow behind while the cadets looked on in surprise but chuckled.

Once outside, Derek was about to hit the showers though the werewolf barely had built up a sweat: “You impressed me just there, Stiles.”

“What, my skinny, defenseless, pale human ass being suddenly strong?” Stiles asked and Derek winced because that was nearly the exact words Derek had used when Stiles had been possessed by the Nogitsune. How Stiles knew that was beyond Derek but he had to give it to Stiles.

“I meant the fighting. I know you turned fit sometime after the pool incident and now.”

Stiles sighed. It wasn’t a conversation he really wanted to have with Derek here of all places – CCTV everywhere – but he owed it to his Guide.

“Gerard had me tortured, Derek. Me, defenseless human, to teach you and Scott a lesson. I couldn’t ever be that weak again.” Stiles said, looking his Guide straight in the eye: “I started lessons that night. First with Allison. It was hard to trust her but it was her repayment for her involvement. It was good to see her as an enemy and fight her hard and dirty. We bonded over that. Then, she couldn’t teach me anymore so I took up Karate. And BJJ. Until I wasn’t that defenseless anymore. Still, I got possessed. I was the weak link again, the one doing the damage.”

Derek wanted to hug Stiles, to comfort him but knew the other needed to get it off his chest first: “Then I killed someone. In self-defense and Scott looked at me like I was the enemy. It was tough, Der. Really hard on me and then, on top of that, they forgot me. Took my mother back from the dead as my replacement. If it weren’t for Malia, Lydia and Dad, I wouldn’t even be here.”

The pain that was in Stiles voice was hard for his Guide, Stiles knew that, he could feel that. But it was his pain, the pain of never being good enough for the pack. Probably something that had snapped and switched him online. Stiles had sworn himself by entering the FBI never to be the weak link again.

“You were never weak, Stiles,” Derek said quietly: “The day I met you, standing on my property and not being scared the slightest while Scott was about to shit his pants, when you faced Scott, a newly turned werewolf and stared him down or me for that matter, you were never weak or defenseless, no more than we were. I would be dead many times over if it weren’t for you, Stiles. So would be the others. You faced crazy Peter in his werewolf form, you faced Kate and withheld torture without giving in, you fought the Nogitsune with all you had. It was nearly always you that came in saving the day with a well-timed distraction or plan. I’m not saying you are flawless or anything but not more than anyone of us.” 

Stiles nodded, accepting that and also a hug from Derek that gave him strength back. It was helping a great deal: “We need to get going.”

Derek nodded and went to quickly change and jump the shower. Stiles was waiting in the hallway when Kent walked past: “Stilinski?”

“Oh, hey,…” Stiles said and shrugged: “I am called into a case and need my Guide.”

“Of course,” Kent said simply: “Keep Derek in the loop as much as possible training wise. I can only let him miss out on so much.”

“I know, of course, Sir. It does help that we share a bit of mental space.” Stiles replied and tilted his head to the locker room door. He quickly opened the door: “You okay there Der?”

“Yes, fine Stiles,” Derek growled back: “I only have my training clothes here.”

Stiles sighed: “We’ll cover that later.”

Derek emerged with his cadet outfit and looked at Kent: “Sir.”

“Hale, please make sure that Stilinski here actually teaches you stuff out there in the field. If he doesn’t ask Hunter Wood,” Kent said.

“All right, we do that,” Derek agreed and they left the building, obviously walking past groups one and two on their way and getting frowned at. Stiles ignored them and made his way with Derek to the gate of Quantico. There they were frowned at on the gate. Stiles rolled his eyes and handed over the room ID, Derek following suit.

“Agent Stilinski?” the guard asked with a look at Derek.

“Derek Hale is my Guide. We’re called to a case. We will return,” Stiles said simply and signed another paper form. Derek following suit. They were walking over to the crown vic there and got into the back, Hunter on the passenger seat while someone else was driving.

“Stiles, Derek, this is Agent Hannah Schaefer. Hannah, those are Guide Derek Hale and Sentinel Mieczyslaw Stilinski.”

“Oh my god, could you stop saying my name!? that’s torture on my ears!” Stiles nearly yelled and Hannah chuckled: “I think it’s a cool name. But what do they call you, then?”

“Stiles,” Stiles answered: “And if you ever want to give me a codename, its mischief.”

Derek snorted: “What, Noah couldn’t pronounce your name correctly?”

“Shut up,” Stiles replied: “My grandfather couldn’t say his name and nicknamed himself Stiles. I was stuck with the same crappy name so I take the right to the nickname.”

Derek knew better than to comment on that but Hannah and didn’t: “So your mother named you?”

Stiles fell silent and looked out the window: “She did,” but kept it at that. Derek took his hand in his and sighed. Stiles sighed: “Due to the supernatural, she came back alive and lived with my father to replace me. She was the anchor for the supernatural Ghostriders to keep me from being remembered. A whole other nightmare.”

“How many Y-Files have you lived through?” Hunter asked: “I don’t have a clue of half of what I’ve heard by now.”

Derek replied instead of Stiles: “Six years’ worth? It’s not like one of those incidents was over in two days.”

“Trouble magnets?”

“No, Beacon Hill’s name is more literal than anyone thought,” Stiles comeback was instant this time: “Are you sure we should only be four agents there?”

“I just might have to reconsider.” Hunter said: “But that depends on if it gets spread that the supernatural exist.”

“May I ask,” Derek cut in: “How you found out about the supernatural existence?”

Hannah chuckled: “I saw a werecat shift in front of me. No downplaying or disbelieving was needed as I already was with the FBI and ran into Hunter here.”

“Yeah, and thus we had a new recruit. I on the other hand grew up in a shifter family,” Hunter said simply: “All were coyotes but me. The odd one out.”

Stiles nodded: “Yeah, that all sounds surprisingly familiar.”

“If anyone had a chance, Stiles, you were the only one that could have walked away.”

“I got Scott bitten, Der, I couldn’t leave my brother out there,” Stiles said and suddenly did a double take: “Oh shit.”

“Since when is McCall your brother?” Hunter asked surprised.

“Your Dad?” Derek asked.

“Yep, only reason would be my Dad just bonded with Melissa. Damn, that’s rather interesting that my pack bond to them realized that before I actually got told.” Stiles said.

“You should call your Dad, Stiles,” Derek said.

“Oh, hell no, I’m not calling him only to find out he’s suddenly in a triad relationship with Scott’s mom and Allison’s Dad.” Stiles said: “I’ve had enough weird to last me a lifetime.”

“You’re here now, did you expect it to stop now?” Hunter asked rather rhetorically.

Stiles muttered something under his breath that sounded like: “How was I supposed to know that the bloody x-files exist?!”

They arrived at the Virginian airstrip that held the jet of the FBI and all four got out. Derek sticking out like a sore thumb because Stiles was wearing parts of a suit, Hannah was wearing a classic costume while Hunter was more in civilian clothes.

Approaching the plane, they were greeted by two other agents, one with an armful of clothes as well. Stiles and Derek were stopped in front of them and Hunter explained: “Agent Toni Bak and Agent Kay Murakami. Toni, Kay, these are Sentinel Stiles Stilinski and Guide Derek Hale.”

“Welcome to the team,” Kay greeted and shook both men’s hand before handing Derek the clothes over his arm. Toni was smiling at them and indicated her partner’s arms: “Those are clothes for you. As we only got rough measurements, I hope those will do.”

Derek took the bag and quickly inspected it, finding the colors of his choice in there: “Thanks,”

“How is Quantico?” Toni asked with a smile: “You just started?”

“Yes, I did. My Sentinel convinced me,” Derek agreed and together they were boarding the plane and settling down. 

On the plane, Hunter handed out munition for the guns: “Silver, iron and wolfsbane bullets. Be careful.”

“Doesn’t Hale get a gun?” Hannah asked surprised. 

Derek waited for a hint but got it from Hunter and showed his hand with his claws coming out: “I’m all set until I am certified for guns, thanks.”

The surprise was written over the others: “You’re a werewolf?”

“I am.” Derek agreed.

“And a Guide?” Kay asked surprised.

“And an Alpha at that. Both Alpha Guide and werewolf. That makes me Alpha Sentinel and additionally, I’m a Spark.” Stiles said: “Any questions?”

There were none about them for now but Hunter asked: “The Dread Doctors?”

Stiles took a deep breath: “You just had to ask?” then he nodded and continued: “They have a Surgeon, a Pathologist and a Geneticist. That is as far as we found out about them. They’re partly invisible but special frequencies are there that can make them visible. Think your worst nightmares about doctors and that’s them.”

“What have you learned or seen about them?” Hunter asked.

Derek reached out to Stiles and supported him. Stiles tried to remember all the details Lydia and he had dug up back then: “They experiment mostly on wereanimals to make a perfect soldier. Anything and everything can be used. Like Frankenstein’s monster. They try to mix claws of a Kanima and fluids of a chameleon. We have someone in the pack that can turn invisible.”

“Kanima?” Hannah asked: “What is that?”

Derek winced slightly while Stiles placed a hand on his arm to sooth him now. It was Derek though, that answered: “A Kanima is someone that was bitten by an Alpha but due to an instable personality, rejects the bite. Instead of dying, they turn into a snake-reptile being that has claws with poison that paralyses you, a tail and a lizard like physique. It can then spin a cocoon and develop an even worse physical form with wings. The Kanima seeks a master that controls it through will until whatever time the Kanima can be redeemed by facing their problems and resolve those.”

“I take it you faced one down before?” Hunter asked and was secretly wondering what hadn’t been in Beacon Hills.

Stiles shrugged: “We have one in our pack.”

The frown that he got wasn’t surprising him and Derek added: “We also had someone with poisonous claws.”

“One of these days? We need to play catch up and you need to tell us your sources,” Kay muttered.

“What, sources besides being besties with the Argent Family and a werewolf?” Stiles asked and Derek lightly nudged him for it.

“Besties? Is that even a word?” Toni asked with a chuckle but Hunter had already written down some pointers for what they needed to organize when they were landing.

The reminder of the plane trip was spent with going over details of the case and what they had found, namely, the bodies. 

“I still don’t quite believe it’s the same Dread Doctors we had. I mean, ours were killed by Sebastien Valet aka La Bête du Gévaudan. It is likely that they merely use the equipment or are a second branch. They were using some Nazi were-lion to live longer so who knows what they will do now,” Stiles said: “This is messed up.”

Derek was looking at Stiles in surprise merely because he hadn’t heard that story yet. Derek hadn’t been around for that crazy adventure and now was rather pissed at himself that his Sentinel had to live through this alone.

“Who the hell helped you with the research on that?” Hannah asked: “This is like, not accidental knowledge.”

“You have absolutely no idea how much those evil guys like to hear their voices.”

The silence that fell over the plane was interrupted by Stiles’ phone. And wasn’t that great? Cell phone reception on a plane. Stiles looked at the number and excused himself, stepping a few feet away: “Dad? Everything okay?”

“Hey Son,” Noah started and Stiles could hear that Noah was trying to tell him something. He also knew what it was as the pack dynamics had already taken care of it: “How are you?”

“I’m good, Dad, thanks. You? I feel a shift in the bonds,” Stiles began, trying to make it easier on him.

“I did bond. Which is a miracle in itself. I never expected this,” Noah sighed: “Listen, Stiles…”

“I already know about Melissa and Chris,” Stiles said when his father couldn’t get the words out and then followed up: “I’m glad you have those two around. Is anyone giving you a hard time over this?”

“No, surprisingly, those deputies that were on Monroe’s side? They switched when it got out I am a Sentinel. Apparently, that has more weight in what is morally correct than anything else these days.” Noah said and suddenly, in the background, Stiles could hear both Melissa and Chris talking. He smiled at this and also knew from the clicking of the fridge that they were at his Dad’s place.

“That’s good to hear, dad. So, your bond….”

“Don’t make me say it.”

“I’m your Alpha, Dad, I can make you tell me,” but Stiles didn’t want to. He wanted his father to be happy and come to terms with this situation on his own.

“Melissa and Chris are good for me. A stable bond with both is what I needed. Scott is avoiding us a bit but I guess that comes from Allison and you mostly. It is weird to suddenly have two dads that will protect him at all costs. Something Mr McCall never did.”

“Yes, don’t I know it. Hey, how’s Zoe doing? The FBI Guide that went with you?”

“Oh, she was a great help until I got out of the house and actually met Melissa and Chris the first time to bond. I was pretty much trying not to go out at that point. She also did find a location for your offices I guess.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s that?”

“An empty train station that has seen one too many supernatural fights already,” Noah said dryly and Stiles started laughing so hard, Derek had to come looking for him.

Stiles wouldn’t be able to explain that one to the fellow guys in any case.

Landing in Montana on some air strip close to the Yellowstone was already an interesting fact for Stiles. Derek picked up on his thoughts right away and was on his phone, looking up the ley lines, volcanic activities and mystical related places such as left over native American rite sites. 

Compiling a list, they found a few interesting spots that were high on magic and might just be of interest to the Dread Doctors. If it still were them. But the MO of mercury coming out of the bodies was the same as well as the fact that all victims had previously received transplants. It was too much alike to be coincidental. One of Noah’s sayings that Stiles was applying to the FBI was, once is an incident, two is a coincidence and three is a pattern. They were at body number three, and on three identical marks.

Montana was everything Stiles had imagined; or not, seeing as they arrived at night time and couldn’t much see anything beyond fog and bad weather. 

Derek was barely stepping out of the car into the town when his neck hairs stood to attention, much like Stiles’ did.

“What is it?” Hunter asked them because both were already shifting around and pretty much looking in any direction to look for a threat.

“That fog is not natural,” Stiles said and concentrated on his spark. While he wasn’t exactly a magician and thus had less powers, some spells he could perform and alter due to reaching down into the earth or the spiritual plane and getting more power.

It was Hannah, apparently fairly new to the supernatural elements, as she was asking quite irritated: “How can there be unnatural fog?”

Stiles turned to her: “Natural fog consists in blotches. You have poor visibility on some places, better at others. Take well used roads for example, those spots will tend to have less fog. The unnatural fog is everywhere the same amount. With it comes a simple sense of something being wrong. Even humans notice that wrongness. Besides that, fog can be the residue of some magic gone wrong. Which in this case is telling as the Dread Doctors are not exactly supernatural nor magical.”

“Someone is coming that way,” Derek said and pointed to the empty road: “and not by car.”

Stiles had picked up on that as well but had still been in his explanation to Hannah and was now focusing on the spiritual plane for his connection to the magic for a way to lift the fog. He found an easy switch so to speak and pushed a bit of magic into it. The Spark needed to ignite the fire.

“Whoa,” Kay commented and looked at Stiles’ eyes that were now glowing purple on the iris: “That is your magic? I mean, we see wereanimals with different colors.”

It was Hunter’s turn to explain that feature: “I notice I haven’t gone into detail with the eye colors…” he took a breath and sighed: “Wereanimals tend to have the natural colors such as green or yellow. If someone has blue eyes, they have killed an innocent. While that isn’t as black and white as the law makes it out, it is telling. Alphas have red eyes as it is such a strong power. But Stiles here has purple that means he uses his Spark; magic. Not all magic is purple as they have shades as well. White means the magic used is protective and from the caster alone. Then they have rainbow-colored eyes as well. That is actually a mix of where the magician’s powers come from. The Earth, themselves, the Spiritual plane, an Alpha or Beta’s power, a Pack’s power…anything to make a spell fiercer. So, if someone casts with a prism, you better get out of the way.”

Stiles didn’t even know that. It looked like Hunter, Derek and Stiles were a good coverage of the basic knowledge. Stiles briefly wondered why Harold hadn’t covered this in his lessons but guessed it wasn’t really needed for the magician.

Derek caught on: “So, back with the Deucalion, you were using all his own supernatural spirit that was left in the body?”

“Yes,” Stiles shrugged and turned to the arrival of the person that had been walking down the road. They were finally about to arrive.

It was a girl, a petite teenage girl that was looking around frightened and partly lost. She spotted the crew with the two women and deemed them safe enough though, to approach. 

Stiles smelled it right away. The unique smell the Doctors had left on their test subjects. Hayden had smelled like this. Theo definitely had and so did Corey. He wrinkled his nose and Derek was there, holding on to him while Stiles looked at the girl: “She was with the Dread Doctors.”

The girl heard him as she looked at him: “Help me, please? You know them?”

It was Toni who stepped closer to the girl and approached her: “We’re here to help you.”

Hunter asked her: “What happened? What can you tell us about them?”

By now, the fog had completely dissipated. The girl was looking from one to the other and Stiles was also looking her over. He took a breath and smelled where she came from, what she was having on her in terms of smell besides that of the Doctors and what else there might have been. 

“They took me from my school,” the girl started and had seen the badges to Toni and Kay’s belt: “I didn’t even see them and suddenly they were there. Then, they took me someplace but I was drugged. I don’t know, they had these horrible masks.” The girl was crying by now.

In the background, Hannah had called an ambulance for the girl to be looked over. Stiles knew he needed his answers before them: “Have you ever received an organ transplant?”

The girl looked at him in surprise and nodded: “Yes, my kidney.”

Stiles sighed: “May I step closer to you and check you out? If you like, we can wait for the ambulance but I will have to take a look at your scar.”

The girl looked at the women in the group and Stiles explained softly: “I am a Sentinel. I will do whatever I can to get them.”

She nodded hesitantly and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she crumbled. Derek was catching her easily and placing her on the ground. Kay was already going for a blanket.

Stiles assessed her then. He could hear the flow of her blood and the heart beat: “Recovery Position, now!” they all scrambled to accommodate her and also cover her with a blanket. Stiles was having an ear out for her breathing but she had a steady intake of fifteen breaths the minute. Next, he was looking her over, smelling her fingers, the shoes, the clothes. He would be able to backtrack her way easily now.

Then he stopped. Something smelled wrong. Like, the Nazi werelion Garrett wrong. Stiles took another breath and confirmed it: “The Doctors extended her life. They used a were-lion for experiments and to extend their lives by taking his blood and injecting it to themselves. They used it on her. She also has a faint trace of chameleon traits. They experimented on her.”

“Anything we need to worry about?”

Stiles shook his head: “I don’t know. But with Hayden, she started bleeding mercury when her body rejected the alterations. I don’t know enough without consulting a doctor.”

Hunter sighed and flipped his phone open: “I have a doctor on the team, actually. He’s currently on vacation and would have met up with you in Beacon Hills. Aaron was on shift one night when one of my pack came in. He kept quiet and I asked him to join.”

Stiles nodded and shrugged: “Any chance he’d cut his vacation in half?”

Hunter grinned like he knew something Stiles did not and started the call. In the background, the EMT services were arriving and Kay was handing over all the information they had. While Stiles had assessed the girl, Toni and Hannah had checked the local missing reports to find her name. Marie Jenkins, fifteen. Handing her over for the hospital, they quickly discussed keeping an eye on her but Stiles knew that if he placed anyone in between the Doctors and the girl, they would end up getting killed until they had found out where their weakness was.

In the end, Hunter ordered for Hannah to join the girl in the hospital and wait for Aaron. Stiles was to type his findings together for the doc to look over. Stiles hoped that this Aaron guy wasn’t anything like Deaton with the cryptic half-truths, myths and riddles. 

Derek was drawing him to one side: “Are you planning on using magic?”

“I am,” Stiles confirmed: “To hinder the girl from coming online. Hayden was bitten by Scott for a reason after she started to change. We can’t simply turn people left and right if they get in the crossfire. I will see what the Dread Doctors did to her first before deciding.”

“Good, I will check my contacts and see if there is a local pack around in case it is necessary,” Derek said and focused his mental shields on Stiles: “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Stiles shrugged: “I just fear using the sonic beams to make them visible. It will be tough on our senses.”

Derek was nodding in agreement: “About that, I was wondering if your magic can disable my werewolf at times. Like, think of this case. We will need to fight them but with my hearing, that’s a problem. You can dial it down when I’m around and useful to you. Plus, my werewolf abilities are useless in front of them.”

“I won’t mess with your abilities, Derek. I won’t try anything as dangerous as this! You’re crazy if you think I would cause my own Guide harm.”

Derek nodded: “Fine,” and huffed. Stiles knew Derek well enough to see the man wasn’t happy with the solution but gave in because he either saw it pointless or he did see a point but didn’t want to be seen as giving in easily.

“Aaron will be coming soon. He said he’ll be here in three hours.”

“Wow, that’s quick.”

“Yeah, well. He loves to camp out in the Yellowstone,” Hunter said: “Are you two okay?”

“We are, just contemplating the sonic beams we will use to lure them out eventually,” Derek said honestly.

“We need to be careful, they can’t be seen,” Stiles said: “I will walk down the path where Marie came from, see what I can find.”

“We should all go that way then,” Toni said: “What kind of weapons?”

“The latest Dread Doctors in Beacon Hills were killed by an even bigger monster. I don’t know if we can harm it with weapons alone,” Stiles said and looked at Derek.

Derek knew that he was the only supernatural being on the team and with that probably responsible for fighting in the front lines. Stiles didn’t like it one single bit and it showed in their bond. It also pretty much nullified Derek’s idea of subduing his powers.

“I’ll be fine, Stiles, you know that. Besides, Deucalion’s Alpha power was quite a bit stronger than my family’s Alpha power has been.” Derek said: “And I can turn fully into a wolf now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Stiles replied proudly and started walking off into the direction Marie had come from. He had his weapon with the bullets made of iron, it was what his gut told him about the Dread Doctors. Maybe it would work out that way. 

Derek was right beside him, having also smelled a few things to track. Stiles secretly wondered how much better Derek’s werewolf nose was to his Sentinel one. Or if they were evenly matched. They would have to test it eventually.

The mental connection they shared was good enough that Derek picked up on it and shrugged: “I could shift?”

“Worth a try,” Stiles said and watched as suddenly, a beautiful black wolf was next to him, slightly taller and bulkier than a normal wolf would be and with beautiful blue eyes. The alpha red glowed only briefly and Stiles knelt down and petted Derek’s fur: “You are amazing, Guide.”

He got a lick on his cheek while Hunter, Toni and Kay were openly staring at him. Hunter whispered in surprise: “He’s an evolved werewolf.”

“What the heck does that mean?” Kay asked in surprise.

“He at some point, lost his werewolf powers, died and came back to life. No other werewolf can shift into the full wolf form otherwise, though it is said to be an Alpha power. It is a form of evolution but we have not enough happenings of those to have any idea what it actually means.”

Stiles was tuning them out now, he was walking with Derek at his side, down the streets and into the wide-open area that was outside of the town they were in. And Stiles had to admit that he had no real clue where he was.

They were tracing the steps back to a small, old farmhouse building that was bigger than thought and had been left alone quite some time ago. Stiles was stopping at the pathway to the building and looked at the others, Derek was running forward as a wolf, knowing he was smaller and less visible in the night in his wolf form. He returned a few minutes later, chaining back effortlessly into his human form with his clothes intact. 

“What did you see?” Hunter asked and was fiddling with some equipment he had brought.

Derek looked at Stiles: “You can hear it, can’t you?”

Stiles nodded. The high-pitched buzzing of the electricity was getting on his nerves. He was trying to dial it down but wasn’t succeeding much: “I can probably see them as well.”

Derek then turned to answer Hunter’s question: “I can’t hear past the frequency which they are using. I can smell traces of Marie here and I think at least three people were here.”

“So, they copied the Doctors,” Stiles nodded: “Same setup but not the same.”

“Probably someone they taught who formed their split group of the Dread Doctors?” Kay asked: “It would make sense that over the years they either had a member more or took on prodigies in their eyes to follow them.”

“Which frequency will let them become visible?” Toni asked and readied her gun and used a sonic device to attune it.

“Let me see,” Stiles said and then fiddled with the device until he had the same buzzing he could hear coming from the building. Derek continued: “We have two clear entries and four windows in the back. They’re up high and rather small. While I don’t particularly want to part ways with Stiles, I would recon one of us to go with the others.”

“Then I’ll go with Derek,” Hunter said: “You and Stiles can talk mentally, correct?”

“We can, but it takes effort. We could communicate better by speech over this distance,” Derek said.

Hunter acknowledged this with a nod and Kay, Toni and Stiles were going to the back entrance. Stiles could make out sounds coming from the inside and wondered if the Doctors were constantly hiding in the frequencies.

They entered the building quickly, Hunter and Kay taking lead on this one as Stiles was fresh from the academy and Derek had no gun. It didn’t matter though because Toni was using the sonic boom device and was disrupting the barrier with which the Doctors were hiding.

Stiles started shooting with the iron bullets as soon as he had seen the first one, watching out that Derek and Hunter weren’t in his line of fire and having dialed down his sound so much that he was barely registering the noise. 

The Dread Doctors were looking at them in surprise under their masks and creepy, black leather clothes. They were hideously looking and the smell Stiles got from decaying flesh and worse than cleaned surfaces where they had dissected humans. He wanted to gag but shot more bullets instead.

Derek’s claws were out and he was attacking on the one doctor trying to escape their way. Derek was thrown back and Stiles snarled angrily. They touched his Guide!

Stiles barely took a look around and found more things that sickened him. Legs, amputated. Claws from various supernatural beings, eyes, like Deucalion had gotten them, a Kanima’s tail and a Banshee’s voice chords. 

He reached down into the basics of his Spark, the barely-there thread to the magic of the world and with a pull, brought the magic forward. He then reached into the magic of the spirit animals and earth, to the pack bond and all the way to the Nemeton. He commanded the power to come forward: “Dread Doctors, I sentence you to humanity and the real age you are. All powers of magical nature will be called back to the Earth.”

Stiles didn’t even fully register what he had been saying. It was something Harold and he had figured out was the norm. His gut feeling was mostly right in these situations. The only thing Stiles had to consciously do was pick the magic he was using. A miscalculation on how much magic it was costing him to do a sentencing could knock him out.

Toni, Kay and Hunter were openly staring at Stiles as the spell settled into the room. The Dread Doctors had paused in their movements and had looked at him, waiting for what was to happen. 

Nothing apparent. The magic didn’t work that way. It was more like a green glow that was coming from the bodies of the doctors and washing the supernatural down into the ground. 

And that was it in regards of the supernatural. The Dread Doctors were mythical because they were old due to the were-lion’s blood and could hide with the technology. Anything else, they were simply humans that were testing on other humans.

Stiles was taking a breath, nearly choking because he could smell the decaying flesh of the Doctors now. Derek was stepping up to him and took the mask off of one. Back stared a mutilated face of someone that resembled Frankenstein’s monster. 

“How long will they live with the magic gone?” Toni asked them. Not that Stiles knew the answer to that but the rate the smell got worse was indicating something.

“Probably not another hour. If they experimented on themselves, they will reject the changes as well. If they didn’t do that, it could take longer. Long enough to get them behind bars.” Stiles replied and shook his head. 

Hunter and Kay were bringing the other two doctors close: “They appear to be in the same shape.”

Neither Doctor spoke. Not in their clicking noise that Stiles had heard before and thought creepy, not in a human voice or on any other sub-level. They probably knew what was happening.

“I’ll look through the papers,” Stiles said after he couldn’t stand to look at them any more: “They have to have records of their victims or which whom they’ve met up. If there are more out there, we need to know.”

Hunter took that as a cue and started questioning one of them but they didn’t get a response.

Stiles was shifting through papers and thankfully had gloves on to shift through the medical utensils and plain saws. He found a wooden box somewhere and opened it. That was when the ticking noise started and the Doctors were talking to each other in the shifted frequency. Stiles quickly tunes the sonic devices to the frequency and disrupted their talk. He looked into the box and found leather books. Dates, numbers, names were in there of the test subjects.

Another book, on locations where they could hole up and where they could meet. Apparently another two groups were around. That and the key to unlock the frequency and hear them talk. Stiles used an app on his phone to disrupt that and turned the sonic beam off. 

The clicking continued and the app deciphered it. Hunter looked at Stiles in surprise and the Sentinel shrugged. He had always been good at getting clues.

“We are dying,” one of the doctors said: “Let us go.”

“No, we can’t. You killed and tortured innocent people.” Hunter said. 

“Hardly innocent. They only live because others died first.” 

Stiles frowned at the strange logic behind that. That and he knew it wasn’t long before they actually were dead. He looked around some more but didn’t find anything else of interest.

“They live because others let their organs go,” Hunter replied: “Why are you here?”

“Good power in the ground. The reminder of the source of our immortality is here.”

Hunter frowned and Stiles picked it up: “So you knew about Garrett?”

“Yes. We used him to stay alive.”

“Are you part of the others and that wanted to resurrect the Beast?”

“No, we follow other ideals,” one doctor said before another continued: “We want to create the perfect weapon.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. They were just like the others then: “We should call in the locals. They will be dead soon. Without the supernatural to hold their bodies together, they will die.”

One of the doctors tried to get away, getting up and running but Derek was there, Alpha power behind his stance and the doctor went back down. 

They were slightly let down that these were old men now, rather than the fearsome Doctors they once were. Stiles had to step back then and looked at Toni: “I’ll be waiting outside. I need some fresh air.”

Derek followed him, taking a breath as well: “Your senses?”

“All rather low,” Stiles replied, hanging his head: “I didn’t want this. All our cases to be like this now.”

“I don’t expect them all to be like this,” Derek shook his head: “If you don’t want to be in the Y-Files, I’ll go through training and we ask for a transfer.”

“I am the only one made for this job. And you’re stuck with it,” Stiles said: “Don’t you get it? I am the Sentinel and Spark that can be the judge and executioner and the police all in one. There will never be anything else.”

“You have me,” Derek said and wrapped his arms around Stiles: “and while I understand what you mean, not everything will be as clear as it was today. You knew what we were looking for. We didn’t have to fight or figure things out. This was experience helping us. When we’re back in Beacon Hills, we’ll have the next evil thing to figure out.”

Stiles nodded: “Sometimes I just want normal.”

“And if you ask for a regular, human only case, I’m sure you’ll get it,” Derek said: “Since when are you the pessimist and I am the one talking sense into you?”

They were placing foreheads together and then closed off their shields until they were only there for each other. Stiles was calm, taking on some energy from Derek and being happy that he was here with his Guide. He couldn’t imagine having done this without Derek.

The sirens from the local department were drawing close and Stiles wanted to head to Hunter to know how he was going to explain all this. Or how they handled those things.

Derek read his intention: “Could be good to know how to deal with them.”

Playing the welcoming committee, Stiles introduced them and lead them inside, continuing the introductions and what they had found. Hunter took over seconds later and played the Supervisor. He told them what they had found and that it was connected to the girl they had found on the street.

The police were looking strangely at them, probably wondering why there were so many FBI agents for one case. Stiles couldn’t fault them. Those three men looked old and fragile now, much less still like Frankenstein’s monsters rather than criminals.

Hunter was easily advising them not to let them out of sight and that they needed a medical checkup. They also needed a crime technician to collect evidence. Mainly to make it stick that they were responsible. 

Not that they would live long enough to see a trial.

Stiles looked at Kay and Toni who were helping to sort the men into the cars. Hunter walked over to where Stiles and Derek were watching from the sidelines: “I’ll stay behind with Toni and Kay, why don’t you head to the hospital to Hannah and see if Aaron is there yet?”

“We can do that,” Stiles agreed the moment Derek’s phone rang. Derek looked at the screen: “Peter,” he explained to Stiles while stepping back outside of the Doctor’s lair.

“Peter?” Hunter asked.

“Peter Hale, former second-hand man of Alpha Talia Hale,” Stiles explained.

“Ah,” Hunter nodded, understanding who he was in regard to the pack dynamics: “What about?”

“In case I can’t take Marie’s magic because she would die, we are looking into the local pack if they were inclined to take her on,” Stiles explained. 

Hunter whistled: “I’m impressed, Agent Stilinski, thinking three steps ahead. I like how you and your Guide work.”

Stiles looked down on the floor, hiding a wide smile. It was rare that anyone appreciated his thinking ahead. All the pack had done in the past were taking him for granted.

The move wasn’t lost on Derek who came back that moment, tilting his Sentinel’s chin up: “Take the credit for once, Stiles. God knows I never thanked you.”

“No, we had the mutual saving each other’s asses going on. And that one time I accused you of murder,” Stiles snorted: “Thanks.”

Hunter was looking at them carefully and Derek caught that he was happy about the selection of Stiles to the team. Derek and he would be a solid part soon. Depending on the knowledge spreading about the existence of werewolves, he would have to take on some more agents.

“Marie can stay with the local pack if needed. I have the contact saved for the case that she can’t live without the supernatural,” Derek said: “I will call them if necessary. Else they won’t show up.”

“Good,” Hunter nodded: “Do you walk back or want to catch a ride with a deputy?”

Stiles looked at Derek but they both knew the answer: “We walk back to where we left the car and take it to the hospital.”

Hunter passed them the keys and Stiles stared into the direction, Derek going with him.

It was a rather short walk back to the house where their car was parked in front of. The rental car was easily spotted and Derek was getting behind the wheel while Stiles was consulting his phone for the route to the hospital.

Their whole trip was done in silence. By now it was close to midnight and they were rather tired but it was hardly the first night not sleeping because they were on a case so to speak.

Arriving at the hospital, Derek picked a parking spot and they made their way to the entrance. It was a small hospital in a quiet part of the state so there was not much to do for the night shift.

“Hey,” Stiles greeted in his usual, good natured way: “Special Agents Stilinski and Hale, we’re looking for Marie Jenkins and our colleague Agent Schaefer.”

“Right this way, please,” the nurse said and buzzed them through the double doors that lead to the ER. After that, they walked down a few hallways and stepped into a corner where they saw Hannah talking to a man.

Hannah turned to them: “Stilinski, Hale, meet Doc Knight. Aaron, these are Sentinel Stiles Stilinski and Guide Derek Hale, newest addition to the Y-Files.”

“Nice to meet you,” they shook hands and exchanged some pleasantries. 

Stiles started up: “Did you find out anything about her health that is unusual?”

“You mean supernatural?” Aaron asked: “Marie has had a transplant. She takes special medicine for it and the experiments done are visible. Hannah told us what to look for thanks to your insight and she has a chameleon trait and werecoyote claws.”

“Any mercury?” Stiles asked: “I will have to assess her again for a second.”

“You fear the manipulations will be rejected?” Aaron asked carefully: “She does still take the meds to keep the kidney.”

“Yes, but that is the problem. She was taken and altered. While the supernatural traits are in there, she could either reject it or it could take. If she rejects it, we need to call in the local pack to get her changed. Then it is a fifty-fifty chance again but mostly better. Else I will take the magic so the alterations are dormant.” Stiles argued back.

“I will monitor her closely. Any changes and we’ll find out which way it is going,” Aaron said.

“How did it go with finding the Dread Doctors?” Hannah asked and Aaron was intrigued: “Wait, those Dread Doctors? The ones doing the experiments? They’re the ones?”

“Yep, and they once were. Well, this branch. There are another two branches from the original Dread Doctors but they will run out of their live extending elixir. Unless they find a replacement, they will be history soon. But those here, right now, they are mere humans now and are in custody.”

Aaron looked at Hannah for an explanation and she provided: “He’s a Spark.”

“Ah, understood,” Aaron nodded. 

Stiles wondered what exactly he was getting here and Derek mentally reached out to cover the whole area: “Marie is awake and scared.”

Aaron’s startled gaze was telltale and they all four entered the room. Stiles was looking at Derek and Derek was mentally soothing her. Stiles was secretly glad that Derek was his Guide. The man was usually calm, not prone to panic even if he was easily angered, he was always clear headed and could control a situation pretty well. As he did right now.

Marie was calm when she woke again, looking at the three familiar strangers and wondered what was going on. She didn’t have it in her to panic and remembered what the young man had said. He was a Sentinel so that meant one of them was a Guide.

“This is Doctor Knight, he’s here to consult with us,” Stiles said and indicated the man: “Do you know what happened to you?”

“They said I would be turned into a monster. Or a creature of the supernatural.”

“We are here to watch out for you,” Stiles said: “But I am honest with you. It can go either way. If you start rejecting whatever they did to you, there might be only a slim chance you’ll survive.”

Marie nodded, she was getting what they were saying but also that they were trying to keep the hope that she would survive: “Did anyone call my mom?”

“Yes, she’s on her way now,” Hannah said.

Stiles in the meantime was focusing on Marie’s heart rate, smell and change in the supernatural elements that she had gotten implanted. Derek whispered to him: “When will it show?”

“Normally, a few days to a week later. This time? Because they changed a lot, I expect in it any time now.” Stiles replied just as quietly. It was very convenient that Derek could hear him. Stiles vowed to get Suzanne and Sarah to test them.

Derek was reaching out to Stiles, grounding him in a second before Stiles had even realized he was about to zone on a heart monitor some rooms away. He shook himself out of it and then winced: “The Dread Doctors were brought in. They have a whole wing for them.”

“Why?” Derek asked and smiled widely and fake at Hannah because she had caught on that they were discussing something below the human hearing range.

“I believe because they are half dead already? The cops probably don’t know what to make of it and while Hunter tried, there are always those that won’t believe or listen to the FBI’s words. But don’t worry. I miscalculated their remaining human energies. They will be dead before sunrise.”

Derek wasn’t sure if the was happy about that or disappointed. Some people were let off too easy. He knew that Stiles was harsher in sentencing someone but Derek in this case would have preferred to leave them some magic as so that they would be behind bars for a few years first. Depending on the state and the death penalty.

Stepping outside of the room, Stiles and Derek were leaning shoulder to shoulder in the hallway, looking down each side of the corridor. Aaron was coming out a few minutes after them while Hannah only came out when Marie’s mother arrived not five minutes later.

“So, we’ll wait?”

“Yes,” Derek said in answer to Hannah’s question. They had to wait anyways. Hunter and Kay were somewhere in the building, mostly watching out for the Dread Doctors. 

“What have you found out about the Doctors? I mean, they’re here, right?”

Stiles looked at Aaron and shrugged: “They are the second team. The first, the original Dread Doctors died over a year ago.”

“Wait, you’ve seen them before?” Aaron asked, incredulous.

“Yes, they were killed by a monster of their own creation. Namely, the were-lion that they used to prolong their lives. That were-lion was originally looking for them to fight the Ghost Riders,” Stiles explained: “These are the second team I’ve come across and Hunter, Kay and we did find evidence of two more.”

“Then we need to look for the pattern,” Hannah said: “I mean, it can’t be hard finding them?”

“Yes, because we have heard of over a hundred cases were people leak mercury because they were experimented on. And oh yes, we heard of many people that have received transplants disappearing,” Stiles replied sarcastically. 

Derek nudged him: “Don’t be an ass, Stiles.”

“Shut up, Sourwolf,” Stiles replied: “I’m still pissed about the whole Ghost Rider thing. Next time, I’ll be prepared.”

“There won’t be a next time Stiles! I won’t allow anyone to erase you from our memories!” Derek growled: “Any I sure as hell won’t let you see them. I hear a word of them and will drag you the other way.”

Aaron and Hannah shared a look that spoke volumes. Stiles nodded and turned to Aaron and Hannah: “Sorry, I tend to forget the environment.”

“We know someone who can filter search the internet,” Aaron explained: “For them this is a rather short search.”

Stiles sighed: “Good, then let’s do that. We need to stop them. Who knows what their next monster to resurrect is going to be.”

Derek added: “That and we don’t want them to actually lead the Ghost Riders into town.”

“What exactly did the Ghost Riders do to you?” Hannah asked quietly.

Derek shrugged: “We forgot Stiles and some others existed. They were completely wiped from the memories. Their belongings, gone, records everywhere, gone, pictures were replaced or simply changed and simply erased. Most of the time only one item was left behind. One fraction of a thought. And they were replaced to the family by someone else they had lost that was suddenly back alive.”

“Like my mother,” Stiles said: “She tried to persuade my father that I didn’t exist. What they didn’t count on was a Banshee that remembered me. My car was a big clue.”

Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles: “While I forgot he existed as well, I was already online. Those months were the hardest because I knew my Sentinel was gone.”

“You never told me that,” Stiles whispered: “Oh damn, Der!”

The hurt that was resonating through the bond was telltale. Stiles was really in for wrapping the other man in a big hug and holding on tight. All that they had been through, that must have been really tough, knowing or feeling your Sentinel was gone.

Another interesting thing to contemplate. That Derek was able to feel him gone when Stiles hadn’t yet been online.

The rather quiet, hurtful mood was interrupted by Hunter and Kay coming down. Stiles looked at them in surprise and reached out mentally and with his senses to find that the Dread Doctors had passed away. The mutilation to their bodies had been too great without the magic to keep them alive for much longer.

“Anything I need to know?” Hunter asked with a frown.

They all shook heads negatively which was making Hunter snort. He let it slide and indicated the door: “How is she?”

“Nothing yet,” Aaron answered and Stiles nodded in agreement. They fell silent again and Hunter checked the time: “Why don’t we go to the motel?”

“I won’t leave,” Stiles said: “I need to be there in case we need to turn her.”

“And I’m more or less the connection to the local pack. Not to mention my Sentinel is here,” Derek replied with a shrug.

Hannah smiled at them knowingly. She knew they were seeing the case through. Hunter himself was stifling a yawn and it reminded them all that they were all tired. Kay sighed and shrugged: “We haven’t found anything else about where the Dread Doctors could be.”

“And we won’t. Not for a while,” Stiles said: “They probably move somewhere else now.”

A doctor was walking down the hallway and they fell silent. No need to announce anything to the others. Stiles then pushed his head back up and straightened. He heard something: “Marie,”

They, meaning Derek, Stiles and Aaron were entering the room where Marie was frowning at them. The mother was irritated as well but Stiles left that to his Guide. Derek was calming the mother right down and Stiles looked at Aaron: “Your assessment?”

“She’s fine. It took.”

“Good, I think the same,” Stiles nodded and focused on the girl and quietly murmured: “Magic is not needed here. Leave.” And reached into his spark to get rid of the magic. The purple mist that was visible was quickly dissolving into the air around them and Derek had tactically blocked the mother’s view from the supernatural while Marie, lying flat on her back, had no means of seeing it. 

Aaron was looking at Stiles in surprise, having seen the purple magic of the Spark and the magic that Marie had. It was now dormant inside her and whatever the Dread Doctors had done wouldn’t show up.

Derek and Stiles were sharing another look before Stiles was slowly retreating from the room. Aaron was doing some explanation that Stiles didn't pay attention to as Derek was also stepping back into the hallway: "The magic is gone in her modifications. We don't need to call in the local pack."

Hunter nodded: "That sounds good. Why don't we all head back into town and catch a few hours of sleep?"

"Sounds good, Sir, but I kind of need to be at Quantico," Derek said with a shrug: "I don't want to miss out on anymore."

Kay and Toni nodded in agreement while Toni smirked: "And I for my part really want to sleep in my bed, even if it's morning by the time we get there."

"What are a few sleepless nights?" Stiles shrugged: "Nothing I didn't do in High School or studying in Quantico when I couldn't sleep."

"We need to talk about that sleeping pattern of yours," Derek growled.

"What?! I have ADHD and when I have a good day, I can focus all night long. I can't do anything about interesting topics out there in the world!" Stiles shrugged: "You know my best times come from researching in the night."

Derek did remember one too many nights spent trying to find how to kill the next evil thing and he knew Stiles was a bit more nocturnal than others. Well, Derek himself was nocturnal because that simply was better to let the wolf out. In the dark, in the woods when most humans were too afraid to wander and roam those areas.

"All right, let's head out. The bodies of the Dread Doctors are being transported back to DC for you, Aaron, to do an autopsy on. After you finish your holiday. Maybe we can learn something from them." Hunter said.

Stiles briefly wondered if they really were living in the x-files show as the parallels were just too hard to ignore. But he couldn't really argue against it as he was living it.

Derek had caught on to his thoughts and snorted but didn't verbally reply. Sometimes their bond as a Sentinel and Guide was making it clear to the other what one was thinking without wanting to. Other times it was hard talking across the mental bond as they didn't have that deep of a bond. 

Getting back to the plane, dead tired and waking their sleeping pilots was rather a short affair. They settled into the plane, dozing there in the seats and trying to catch the few hours of sleep it took them to get back. By Stiles' estimation they should be right on time so Derek could make it to the first class, if not the morning run.

Stiles actually startled awake the moment the plane touched down. He was surprised to have slept through it. Derek next to him was looking as irritated as he did but then shook himself more awake. Four hours was nowhere near enough but it was good enough for now.

Returning to the Academy, Derek was slipping back into his training clothes and Stiles briefly assessed the whole area but couldn't detect Harold's magic signature. The man probably had left.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Stiles asked quietly. Hunter, who was with him was shaking his head: "I have a few cold cases you could look through along with some research that we never quite figured out."

Interested, Stiles nodded while Derek grinned at him before signing back in. Stiles followed suit and together they were parting ways with Hunter who would be sending Stiles all he needed for his work, namely a laptop, work phone and access to the files.

Derek was already in class by the time Stiles stopped at their small room and headed off for the shower. The perks of having the Sentinel and Guide room was that the showers were attached instead of communal showers. The other showers were simply too much chemical wise and with all the different shampoos and soaps of others not a place to be.

Still, Stiles briefly wondered how the heck he was supposed to fill the next four months with paperwork alone. Maybe Suzanne and Sarah were up for some special training and had enough time outside their responsibilities at the local center. 

Before Stiles could fall asleep that afternoon due to the lack of sleep, he went for a run around the place. It was a good practice after all. He also hoped, secretly, that no-one in group four where Derek had been on, had had a chance to talk to the others. He wanted the quiet that brought ignorance about them being a bonded pair. He wished Derek success on his own and not because it was public knowledge that he was a Guide bonded to an FBI agent. 

"Stilinski," he was quietly called and he focused on where Agent Kent was standing more than half a mile away. Stiles snorted and waved, making his way over to the other man. 

"How was your case?"

"I'm back already, aren't I?" Stiles replied mystically.

Kent nodded: “Listen, I know you tried to keep quiet with your Guide around and probably only Espinoza knows by now, why don’t you help your Guide with physical practice? The class is one member short now and I know how some Sentinels are with someone touching their Guide.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles nodded: “Just partner training or anything else?”

“Depends, actually. No one should think he’s getting special treatment. I am slightly impressed by him withstanding the mock torture we tried and emotional blackmail and how well he does in physical and coordination.” Kent said simply.

Stiles grinned but was sad for a moment because they had been through a lot and it wasn’t an easy topic. Kent seemed to pick that up and made his way to leave.

Looking after the other man, he shook his head and started back up running. He was confused as to why they were taking such exemption to Derek and him but Stiles figured it had something to do with the Y-Files and the fact that Monroe and Gerard’s cause had drawn attention. Specially to the supernatural and the Y-Files. Not everyone could be confronted with the Supernatural without problems. If, or rather when, the knowledge spread beyond the hunters, they might just get some more for their branch but with the possibility that the future agents were more on the hunter’s side instead of aiming for justice.

Stiles was done with his run, went for a shower and was on time for dinner in the communal hall. He was assessing the whole crowd of the cadets in a sweep and thanked Derek mentally because the other man had a far better sense of the mental sense than Stiles did. 

Reynold, Espinoza and Silva were eying him as he came closer to their table as if to say what he was doing there. Espinoza was only looking at him in a sort of respect for the Sentinel thing and Stiles wondered whether it had been spread that he was a Sentinel. Kent was approaching the table as well so Stiles hoped that he wouldn’t talk about it.

“Agent Stilinski will join the training in group four as they are one short,” Kent said. Stiles was secretly shaking his head because that was exactly that what he didn’t want.

Espinoza eyed him: “Oh, Stilinski can practice with Hale and show off his moves any time.”

Stiles nearly choked while not too far across the room Derek was choking on a sip of water. Espinoza noticed Derek’s reaction and frowned at them.

“Damn,” Stiles sighed: “I hope you didn’t tell anyone else about this.”

“Nope, but I enjoy throwing you into the pool together,” Espinoza smirked but a second later was surprised to see Derek stalking across the room, crouching down in front of Stiles and touching him: “Calm breaths, Stiles.”

Kent was looking at them, Silva was gaping, Reynold was probably analyzing something while most of the cadets hadn’t even realized something was going on. Derek looked at Espinoza: “I doubt Stiles didn’t show any reaction the last time you did that.”

“He was panicky and out of the bounds in seconds and out of the water in another blink of an eye,” she answered: “What?”

Derek sighed: “I nearly drowned. Stiles kept us afloat for two hours. And that was before either one of us was online.”

Stiles was realizing that they were talking but the panic attack had caught him unawares. It was telltale to Reynold that Stiles was fighting a full-on panic attack with a hyperventilation. It would simply be embarrassing to have a Trousseau sign of latent tetany. Stiles was calming down due to Derek’s influence and Kent was eying them yet again with something he tried to figure out.

Espinoza nodded: “I take it I should let you skip this one.”

“You should. Besides, we will be out of those plastic zip ties before you throw us in,” Stiles replied with a grin, now feeling better: “Thanks Derek.”

“We’ll need to talk about this,” Derek said quietly.

Stiles nodded: “That and hundred other topics.”

Derek rolled his eyes and walked back, more or less ignoring the looks from others. Stiles needed to work on that; Derek being a loner. He was a Guide now, for Christ’s sake, he should be having friends left and right and not isolating himself. Furry werewolf powers or not, Derek was actually a great person to know.

Reynold frowned at Stiles: “I didn’t get anything when we were assessing you through the training process and the pool training that you were having panic attacks.”

Stiles sighed: “I am stable, don’t worry. It’s just been a long day and the case we were on was literally a flashback to those times. No fun there. Besides, Derek and my shields are rather thin at the moment due to the environment and being half a room away.”

“Are you telling me you got that panic from someone here?”

“Could be the case just as easily, yes.” Stiles shrugged: “Mentally stressing over exams can do that when my shields are lowered. My empathic ability is rather low, too, so I can’t really feel the depth of an emotion like stress from studying or stress from nearly dying.”

“Then we will give you a heads up on things going on and when the training in the pool will take place,” Kent agreed: “Agent Wood mentioned you should be getting an office to study and we have gotten behind that. Building A, room fifty-one.”

“Like, Area fifty-one?” Stiles chuckled and snorted. Kent grinned back in amusement while Silva, Reynold and Espinoza were left out due to the rather higher classified knowledge of the Y-Files.

Stiles wondered how many other things the FBI made their own by ridiculing the whole knowledge of the public.

Since Stiles’ key card was probably already programmed to allow him into the room, Stiles made a mental note to go there tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Tonight, he needed time with his Guide and his Guide probably needed time to study.

Kent was leaving, closely followed by Reynold and Silva. Espinoza stayed back a second: “Stilinski, I’m sorry but I want to warn you about an exercise tonight for the cadets. They will be woken at four this morning.”

“Anything I can help you with?” Stiles asked with a nod. This means Derek and he would be exhausted come tomorrow. He knew they could work with a few sparse hours of sleep but that was still always a problem to mentally work on full capacity. Something the academy would be training them the next few nights. If you worked yourself to death, you weren’t mentally able to think straight. 

That also meant that you needed to know where your limit was and when you had to hand over a case to a fellow FBI Agent. Rather valuable knowledge in action.

“Yes, you could run with me across the campus, make them meet me at Hogan’s.”

“Sure,” Stiles nodded: “Not like I can’t sleep then anyways.”

“I’ll let Derek partner with you but you need to let him run point,” Espinoza said: “I’m sorry to include you all the time.”

“Ah nonsense, he’s my Guide and we need all the practice for the field that we can get,” Stiles shrugged, leaving out that Derek and he had fought together and successfully at that before.

Stiles got the feeling that that was what she was hoping for. 

Making his way to the room ahead of Derek was simply as Derek had sat with the other cadets and actually had been involved in a conversation. Stiles was slightly surprised that this had happened because Derek was trying to stay out of the gossips and all that. Not, that he was succeeding much.

The quiet of the small room was a slight relief. The room was isolated to the whole compound but not to the alarm system the building had. They were simply to be left alone. With a sigh, Stiles went to take another shower. He would need it before climbing into bed if they were to be woken at four in the morning. He always had enjoyed the drills as he was nocturnal most of the time. He would keep quiet about the fact that this was probably resulting from running with wolves as the past six years.

After the shower, Derek was already there in the room, brooding over some book and another, this time on law and crime scene procedures. Stiles smiled at him and placed a kiss on his head as he walked by. Derek quickly reached out and grabbed him, dragging him close and inhaling his scent.

Sometimes, Stiles actually forgot how much the werewolf in Derek needed to claim his mate just as much as his Sentinel did. It surprised him so far because they had barely been together and bonded for more than a handful of months now.

Time was flying past. But that always happened when you were busy and in a way happy.

Derek let the books behind and was picking Stiles up in a move that seemed effortlessly to the supernatural strength. Stiles simply held on and kissed Derek, eagerly waiting for what the wolf needed today.

And how the hell could he have forgotten that it was the full moon tonight?

The alarm of the compound blaring was what was dragging them from sleep and Stiles cursed himself for forgetting that part and scrambling to his pants and clothes before they could have been woken by Espinoza walking in to check the rooms.

Derek frowned at him and Stiles shrugged: “Drills.”

Derek grunted in disapproval but got into his clothes just as quickly. They left and waited outside where Stiles had assembled them all. Espinoza was still clearing the rooms. 

“What time is it even?” someone asked and Derek looked at Stiles, just knowing his Sentinel knew about this.

“Four in the morning,” Stiles replied with an easy smile and turned back over his shoulder to see the full moon shining down onto the open area.

“We’re all set,” Espinoza said and Stiles started herding the group together and started jogging off into the direction of Hogan’s Alley. 

The whole area was busy already. Stiles’ group was group four, group three was already there and playing the bad guys in this case while groups one and two were handing out equipment and were briefing people and sorting them. Stiles’ team was backup just brought in.

Those group assignments would be changing the next nights to come. No one would be getting much sleep.

Some cadet was calling out names of pairs and when he got to Hale who was paired with some other cadet, Espinoza called rank: “Hale, you’re with Stilinski, Green, you’re with Miller.”

That got a frown from all cadets but Silva backed Espinoza while Reynold said: “Hale is talked about joining Stilinski’s team. The reason he’s here is to see if they can work as a team.”

Explaining this, was the right thing to do, as every cadet accepted that easily enough. Stiles shrugged and wondered why they didn’t tell them as it must have spread by now. Well, the knowledge about them sharing quarters and being a Sentinel and Guide pair hadn’t spread so most probably kept to the unspoked rule that no one was actually allowed to out someone as a Sentinel or Guide in the field much less ask personal questions.

It suited Stiles just fine. Derek and he were to take one position and started taking on their gear easily. Derek adjusting Stiles’ straps on the vest while Derek merely snorted at his but let Stiles fuss with it after Stiles pointed out: “You know, those vests keep wolfsbane bullets away, right?”

The building that they entered was dark and barely lit. Altogether reminded it Stiles of the Eichen House cellars, just without the mental, supernatural, creepy inmates.

Stiles kept his promise and let Derek enter first, even if that screamed against every instinct that he had.

Nonetheless, Stiles placed a hand on Derek’s shoulder and let him point, letting him know that he was behind him. They entered the building and Derek was pointing out each and every bad guy that was lurking somewhere while Stiles had his back and was shooting them with the paintball guns.

Derek was easily going out of his way to make sure Stiles was covered. It was cute and Stiles followed Espinoza’s request to let Derek do everything but having his back. Even that Derek had down and Stiles only had to intervene once. Stiles also had a means to single out everyone with his senses and feed it to Derek, if Derek wasn’t using his werewolf senses.

Which also showed that Stiles had better senses than Derek did but in close quarters and in a similar environment, they were pretty much even. Derek’s wolf nose was probably on par with Stiles’ nose but that was about all.

While Stiles couldn’t guarantee for his fellow classmates, Derek and he got out alive and unharmed. Anyone else in the compound was on their own and anyone hit or not a good lead was nearly relieved from training.

Making their way out, pretty much the whole team in charge of playing the evil guys was in awe of how Derek and Stiles had gone through their numbers.

Espinoza grinned at them but quickly turned away not to show favoritism while Reynold was calling them all to order: “Everyone, practice has finished. Report back for lunch and head to your classes. The results of the exercise will be discussed tonight.”

Stiles once again wondered how long Derek and he could play the game of being normal recruits, much less human.

The weeks flew past and Stiles barely called home, just enough to realize his father was happy and for once Beacon Hills seemed to have caught a break with the supernatural evil. Stiles in the meantime had looked through some cold cases and had transformed the Area fifty-one into a whirr of red threat connection one pin on one side of the wall with another pin on the other side, hence connecting two seemingly unrelated articles together.

Aaron had visited him one afternoon after the autopsy on the Dread Doctors and had whistles in surprise, quickly snapping pictures and getting Stiles’ results to Wood who then took Kay and Toni to a special case to close it. Stiles had stayed behind with Derek this time as it was simply a small arrest that they could handle. Stiles was meeting simply for the sentencing of the magical kind so they could present their perpetrator to the judge and place them into prison.

Derek was still going good in class, even if some things that weren’t tactical, strategic or physical subjects, were only just above average. Stiles in turn wasn’t so good in interrogation where Derek was actually looking to score through the roof with his mental and enhanced senses.

Stiles was surprised that they were complimenting each other rather well. While Stiles was really good at making plans, Derek was better at chess and thus the tactical advantages behind some scenarios. They had dusted the other team when it had been Derek’s class to play the bad guys at Hogan’s Alley.

In the fifths month of Derek’s training, it was Derek’s time to get to the cold cases – the same where Stiles had picked Derek’s case and in turn Kate’s – to find out who was behind the case after all the time.

While Derek was working through a case, Stiles was called to come to a case in Virginia, therefore right across the doorstep. Hunter had found a very faint trail to the third Dread Doctor’s fraction and asked for Stiles’ help.

“You need to go, Stiles, don’t make this harder than it is,” Derek sighed: “We’ve been living in each other’s pockets for months now and we didn’t even do that the first few weeks we were bonded.”

“I know,” Stiles sighed: “it’s this weird sense to keep you close. I know you’ll be fine and I can handle myself and it’s only a few miles away…”

Derek smirked fondly at him and drew him into a hug: “I know. I’m with you and a phone call to Agent Kent away if you need me.”

Stiles nodded and kissed Derek before grabbing for his bag and leaving out the door. He was still slightly irritated but knew he had to get through this. The process of getting signed out again was met with a frown and a smirk from the same guard. Stiles grinned at the man because by now he was a known factor.

A car was already waiting in front of the gates and Toni was greeting him with a wave through the glass. Stiles got in: “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” she smiled: “How’s the small den of yours coming along?”

“Den? You mean my area fifty-one room?” Stiles laughed: “Still with the red threads. Though I must say Kent was slightly surprised when he saw a glimpse and wondered if I wasn’t going mental.”

“Not you,” Toni replied: “I’m still impressed by the way. You connected cases that we didn’t even know were connected much less showed us what really is out there. Well, what else is out there.”

“If you had access to the Argent’s Bestiary and to the Alpha’s network of books of creatures, you would find that out as well.” Stiles defended himself: “I know.”

They made good time to the destination and Stiles was glad that he could use the time to research some more into the area and the most likely position. Stiles wasn’t stupid enough to know that they probably just needed him to do the Dementor’s thing. Stiles really started to dislike the whole Harry Potter theme.

Toni was a quiet person. Stiles liked that because while everyone associated the hyperactive, funny person, Stiles had changed. He was more focused now, probably partly grown out of his ADHD as the Adderall was messing with his senses and he had stopped taking them. As a result, it also helped to keep him focused.

Now, Stiles was quieter, determined and focused. He also knew when to keep his mouth shut, mostly when faced with supervisors or suspects in interrogation. Never about himself though. Because he wouldn’t change his humor and open personality for anything.

They arrived three hours later. Stiles was greeting Wood and Murakami with a nod and then grinned at both men. Kay was chuckling a bit while Toni got out of the car. Hunter greeted them both: “Stiles, Toni, we have a lead from one of the victims.”

“Good,” Stiles nodded and looked around: “I might need someone to mimic my Guide.”

“I know how to do that,” Kay said and nodded: “I can distract you.”

“Good,” Hunter nodded: “Toni and I will do cleanup and you two will find a way to find the Dread Doctors.”

“Will do,” Kay said and Stiles nodded, grabbing a backpack with the equipment. Guns, sonic beams and mountain ash. Stiles was impressed that this counted to the standard for them. He would recommend a Molotov cocktail or something the like.

They quickly switched to the other car, the one Hunter and Kay had brought along while Toni and Hunter were getting into the other one. Stiles took a deep breath: “I hope we can get back soon.”

“I bet.” Kay said: “We will figure this out just as fast as the other Dread Doctor case and before you blink, this is a done deal.”

“Just one more Dread Doctor team. We need to be quick before they recruit yet another team. There are enough evil personas out there without them.” Stiles shrugged.

The otherwise quiet of the car was interrupted by Stiles’ cell phone. And damn, that thing hadn’t rang in so long that he barely remembered the ring tone. But this one, this was assigned to Jackson.

“Hey Jacks,” Stiles greeted, looking at Kay apoplectic because taking a personal call on the job was rather weird.

“Stiles, are you by any chance in Virginia?”

“Err, yes?”

“Dread Doctors?” Jackson continued and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“How the hell would you know that?”

“Because Lydia said something,” Jackson said quietly.

“She didn’t scream, did she?” Stiles ignored Kay’s look, pretty sure the whole team had been briefed about Stiles and Derek’s pack.

“No, thankfully not. But she mentioned something along the lines of Ghost Riders and Dread Doctors, so be careful, okay?”

“Yes, thanks Jackson. Hi to your boyfriend,” Stiles teased.

“And you to yours,” Jackson replied with a laugh.

Kay eyed him: “The Banshee foretold something?”

“The Banshee is my very good friend Lydia Martin. She is smart and very brilliant. She heard something that mentioned the Dread Doctors and the Ghost Riders in the same sentence. The Ghost Riders come into town unnoticed because no one remembers or notices someone who went missing. Therefore, it is rather important to know that she caught something.”

“And Jackson was the Kanima? Her former boyfriend?”

“Right, now the boyfriend of a werewolf,” Stiles said: “You know all that, you were briefed. Back on topic, if we really deal with the Dread Doctors and the Ghost Riders, we’re toast. The Ghost Riders cannot be stopped unless with their own guns. Tough luck getting them.”

“Any chance your Spark can do something about them?” Kay asked.

Stiles shrugged: “The Banshee lore is tied in a way to that of the Ghost Riders. Lydia was one to see the Riders and not get taken. She was lucky. If you get a hint that they might appear, look away immediately. About my Spark, I know you can stop them with mountain ash but their power comes from the old Irish legends.”

"That would mean this is merely a try and error?" Kay wondered: "Stiles, we're entire useless without a good plan against the Ghost Riders."

"Don't I know it," Stiles sighed: "We had two of the werewolves fight them and they got ahold of their own weapons with seems to work just fine," Stiles explained: "Anyways, I doubt they will stay around if I am really a threat to them. Mysteriously, everyone of a supernatural heritage can sense what I am."

They fell quiet again and Stiles suddenly pointed something out: "There's a hum over there. Like, a wrongly tunes radio or that cellular connection noise when close to speakers. I once heard that with the Dread Doctors."

"That building over there?"

"Yeah, the one that for once looks like a very nice house with an amazing veranda," Stiles agreed: "Would be the first time they don't take a creepy lair."

"Probably their scheme to being avoided," Kay shrugged: "We'll check it out. Why don't you reach into the bag and start the sonic beams?"

"Why don't I send our location to Hunter and Toni first?" Stiles replied: "You know, in case we do get overpowered by the invisible things?"

"Good point," Kay said: "Seems like my trust in you is greater than my conscious thoughts of backup. Which shouldn't happen." 

Stiles wondered at that, too. The basics like calling for backup in the right moment or informing where you are before heading into a dangerous situation were so ingrained, Stiles never once forgot that in all the time at the academy. And before that, his father had hold him more than once to do always remember that.

"This frequency could be messing with your mind," Stiles said and took out a frequency scanner that was covering the invisible light and the sounds above and below human hearing. Even a Sentinel couldn't hear below ten Hertz or above fifty kilo Hertz. It was the same with the visible light. He could detect infrared light down to three hundred and fifty tetra hertz and make out ultraviolet up to six hundred tetra Hertz. Which was interesting as both adjacent spectrums weren't completely covered, only barely. It was good for detecting heat residues and supernatural touched items.

The Dread Doctors used a frequency just above but if incorrectly tuned, Stiles might just pick it up. Like, Stiles had had a human physic teacher that had let them listen down from twenty kilo Hertz to see who still had a good hearing and who had already ruined their hearing by loud music or simply age. Stiles had been able to feel some sort of pressure in the air even if he hadn't heard the high-pitched sound in itself. Now, though, that wasn't an issue.

"What, like the Kingsman movie?"

"Not that violently but yes. We don't know what that does to humans. There is a reason the CIA used the loud rock or metal music as interrogation techniques because it is a sound that is hurtful in a way," Stiles shrugged: "I still think there are too many unexplored theories about this and you might not be a Sentinel but if you come from a Sentinel family, who says you can't be sensitive to it in some way?"

Kay frowned: "My father's side, the Murakami's, are coming from that side, I think. My father didn't show the genetics and with marrying a white person was rather an odd-one out anyways. Maybe my Mother's genetics are simply stronger."

"That actually makes sense," Stiles agreed: "You look mostly like white people do with the tall, lanky frame and whiter skin. Only your hair and eyes show that you are also half Asian but I must admit, if you hadn't said anything, I would have thought the Asian tree in your family was a bit farther removed."

"Nope, half. But it makes sense. There's also that saying about it skipping a generation so who knows how much of a defected Sentinel Gene I might have," Kay shrugged.

Stiles looked at the other man: "Sorry but I don't think you're coming online."

"Thank God," Kay chuckled and reached for a sonic beam: "I wouldn't want to hear, see or smell some things."

Stiles had to secretly agree but didn't point out that you were actually learning how to dial it down most of the time. They were getting out of their cars and Stiles winced. Definitely some frequency blocker or disrupter that was malfunctioning. 

They used hand signals from that point on as Stiles had suspected that they might have listening devices or surveillance around that could pick up sound. Their rustling leaves or crunching gravel could be cast off as that of an animal.

Stiles was close to the entrance now, taking a breath before expanding his senses in the hopes to find a fault in the electronics so that he could make out where each Dread Doctor was located. Stiles then opened his eyes and Kay was gaping at him because Stiles' eyes were glowing in a rainbow way. 

Reaching for the magic in his Spark, the supernatural running through the veins of the Dread Doctors as well as all magical items surrounding them, Stiles commanded all those to vanish from the inside of the building. 

This time, Stiles didn't need a spoken command. It just was and easy to access. It didn't take long, either: "The magic has gone. We can proceed with the sonic beam."

Murakami followed suit. He activated the device while Stiles had dialed down the sense. Kay touched him briefly in case Stiles was zoning before they stormed through the doors, seeing the Dread Doctors experimenting on their latest victim. 

It was a small boy, thankfully sedated and on the cups of having been inserted talons that to Stiles looked like those of an over dimensioned vulture. He shuddered briefly while one Dread Doctor was coming at Kay with a scalpel and was about to attack them.

Both Kay and Stiles fired at him. The bullets hit dead center and the Dread Doctor went down. The other two were staring at their fallen comrade before apparently realizing their magic was gone and they were simple mortals. Stiles didn't smell as strong a decay as with the previous Dread Doctors so he estimated that they would make it to prison for once if they didn't fight and attack them.

They didn't. They probably figured something but Stiles and Kay were laying cuffs on them easily. Those cuffs were some special mix between iron, wolfsbane, mountain ash and steel. Something to keep most supernatural cuffed.

Stiles quickly stepped to the boy and found him breathing but not having been intubated. Stiles rolled the small boy into a recovery position and was monitoring his breaths.

"I'll radio it in," Kay said and indicated Stiles to be extra watchful as he would be distracted. Stiles nodded: "Get an ambulance for the kid. He's sedated but I don't know if they did something else, too."

“Aaron might be the best choice at the hospital, if we get him to sign in,” Stiles agreed.

Kay did radio it in while Stiles was inspecting the two remaining Dread Doctors closely: “You probably realized what has happened.”

“We lost the immortality,” one said: “but we don’t know how.”

Stiles grinned and looked at both: “Any means to contact your fellow Dread Doctors?”

They –underneath their creepy masks – looked at one another before looking at him and denying: “No,”

“Might try that again,” Stiles replied: “You still have a heart that I can hear skipping a beat on a lie, you know.”

One Doctor – Stiles thought it was their Pathologist – sneered while the other unconsciously looked to one side of the room, to a particular strange electrical box that Stiles had thought might be to shock someone into their heart stopping.

Stiles waited for Kay to pay attention again: “Kay, check the box over there carefully. There might be a hint to the others.”

“You won’t find them,” the presumed Pathologist said.

Stiles shrugged: “We’ll find them eventually.”

“We know our device was faulty,” the other, probably the Surgeon said.

Kay looked at Stiles: “They probably don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?” the Pathologist sneered.

Stiles looked straight at them: “The ones in Beacon Hills were killed by the Beast and then by Garrett.” The name Garrett evoked something in them so Stiles continued: “As I don’t see your version of the werelion’s blood, I presume you got yours from another Dread Doctors team. Which we know because we were responsible that the second team was stopped.”

They looked at Stiles with horror but didn’t say anything else. Kay was returning to Stiles’ side with a stack of papers. Stiles would be happy to look through them in his area fifty-one office. Stiles still chuckled at that. He would have to think hard about something just as sassy for the Beacon Hills’ office.

Sirens in the background were alarming Stiles to the approaching of others and while he couldn’t make out yet, who was arriving, Kay and he stayed quiet for now.

Not so, apparently the Pathologist: “I will tell everyone about what we did.”

“Yeah, so get placed into an asylum,” Stiles replied.

“I will show them my modifications,” the Surgeon said proudly.

“What, the ones that were relying on the supernatural magic to work?” Kay asked: “I’m afraid we took that from you.”

“Depending on how much you changed on your body, you might survive. Else, I don’t think you will.”

It was the local police that arrived with the EMS first. They tended to the boy while one was looking at the third Doctor with the obvious bullet wounds. The boy was still unconscious. Stiles said: “I smell some trace of licorice from the pores of the kid.”

“So probably sedated with something,” the one said and thanked Stiles before rolling the boy onto the back to examine him. Stiles focused on the police that was looking at the masks and surroundings in horror. Stiles didn’t fault them. This looked straight out of a horror movie.

The uniformed cops took the two Doctors away, frowning at them when they unmasked them. The scars on their faces were the same with the other Dread Doctors and Stiles really didn’t want to know why the hell you would undergo an operation to enhance something with supernatural things when you were perfectly healthy. 

But then again, Stiles had turned down the offer to get bitten and turned to a werewolf. Others hadn’t.

All in all, Stiles and Kay went back to their car and took a moment to take it all in. Kay had the box with him.

“If we don’t find the other Doctors, how much damage could that be?” Stiles asked Kay.

“Theoretically, we could think they have something between the second Dread Doctor’s team of werelion blood left and this team’s empty state, they would run out of immortality eventually. Depending on how many enhancements and modifications they made, they could either reject it right away or live a few years the most. Hence, I think we’re looking on two or three years’ worth of evil. Depending then on the likeliness of finding another immortality source, we could end up with about one hundred victims.”

Stiles liked Kay for his mostly mathematical and stochastic mind. It was something he couldn’t work well with but could, if he had to. It was just nice to have him to show the statistics and likeliness: “Meaning we have to get them.”

“Yes, but if we look for them and don’t find them right away, the question would be if you’re magical enough to use the spiritual plane to sentence them anyways,” Kay shrugged.

Stiles gaped at him, not having thought that much ahead: “Uh, I should be able to do so? I mean, the magical and spirit animal plane is connected in some ways that I can’t describe or really make out. But I could use my wolf spirit animal and Derek’s to find them and sentence them. Which would be crass because I could theoretically sentence everyone to death with that.”

“Yes, but you forget that there are about seven people in the world that can do what you can do,” Kay shrugged: “And they’re all watching over the Nemeton’s. And your Sentinel sense of justice won’t let you.”

Stiles had to agree to that. It would be interesting to try. Stiles didn’t want easy though. And that screamed easy.

Aaron was meeting them at the hospital’s entrance, as Stiles had wanted to have a second opinion if they already had tampered with the boy or if the previous transplant the kid had gotten was now causing some sort of trouble. If so, Stiles would make a call to Derek (or Peter) and ask for the local pack to meet them. He wouldn’t see the kid dead if he could help it. And while being a werewolf wouldn’t be easy, it probably beat being dead.

The kid, like Marie in Montana, was fine. The boy was examined first and then his parents were informed. Thankfully, it was still early evening and the boy had been missing for a few days only. Why the doctors had waited so long was beyond Stiles but Stiles really hoped the kid had been sedated the whole time.

Hunter was with them at the hospital and Stiles was starting to get antsy. It was nothing he could put into words. It was the sensation of being separated from Derek for a whole day and over a few hundred miles.

Stiles was trying to downplay the whole matter. He was forcing himself to be still. He was tensing his muscles and relaxing them, balling his fists, juggling his leg, walking up and down the small hallway and rubbing a nervous hand over his head.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Toni. Hunter, Kay and Aaron were busy with other administrative and paperwork tasks.

“You don’t do well without him,” Toni said so quietly that only Stiles and other Sentinels would be able to hear. It was enough for Stiles to hear it though, and he was thankful that she was kind enough not to voice the whole issue out loud for others in the hallway to hear.

“That obvious? Fantastic,” Stiles snapped, then shook himself, consciously relaxed his muscles: “I’m sorry. It’s apparently normal for Alphas. I mean, Derek and I have been bonded for barely ten months now. Half of those we spend barely seeing each other outside of a few minutes or across a hall. We’re not settled.”

“I thought this was as close as you got?” Toni asked: “Sorry if I am overstepping my allowance to ask according to the Sentinel and Guide Act.”

Stiles smiled at that but replied: “We’re too much apart and haven’t had a correct settling in. Not a single week off to really nest. It has to happen soon because this can’t go on. We’re able to function to a certain degree but it could be better.”

“Then we have to plan for that in the weeks after Derek graduated,” Toni smiled: “We also consider that Zoe needs to find her Sentinel and while she’s alone in Beacon Hills right now, we know this will come up.”

Stiles nodded: “Then there’s also the whole matter of being mated to Derek’s wolf. While its mostly submissive to the Sentinel and Guide bond, I feel Derek’s wolf at times and when it needs me to be close. Especially around the full moon.”

Toni nodded result: “It’s decided then. We’ll talk about all this together as a Team and you will have to tell us when something like this comes up. We can’t detect it.”

Stiles gave her a thumps up, simply too exhausted in a way to reply verbally. His phone rang that second and he smiled brightly: “Hey Sourwolf.”

Toni laughed at that and walked a few steps into the opposite direction of where Stiles was turning to to give Stiles some privacy.

“Hey Stiles,” Derek replied and Stiles was secretly glad that Derek never took to call him anything but Stiles because he loathed pet names. Not Derek, though.

“I miss you,” Stiles sighed: “I can’t wait until this is all over and we get to have some peace.”

“Me, too. I hope you’re back soon because we have another practice tomorrow where I would really like to have you as my training partner. That and I doubt you would tolerate my smell after a practice.”

“I probably won’t like it,” Stiles shrugged: “Der, about moving back to Beacon Hills, I know it’s still a few days off but…where are we going to stay?”

Derek was quiet: “I really don’t want to head back to the loft. Or the burnt-out house.”

“I’ll call my Dad and ask him about looking for a place before we can go looking for our own?”

“Sounds good,” Derek replied: “I can feel you’re anxious. Did you get them?”

“We did, yes. Kay came to an idea about using my magic and spirit plane connection to sentence them remotely.”

“Please tell me you didn’t try that on your own.”

“No, not yet. But we need to. Eventually.” Stiles looked across the floor: “Oh, Hunter’s walking out of the kid’s hospital room. I’ll take a look and persuade them to drive home tonight.”

“You do that.”

“Thanks, Derek, for calling,” Stiles said honestly.

They hung up and Hunter looked at him: “I think it didn’t took. Please take a short assessment that they didn’t do anything.”

Stiles did and shook his head: “We’re good.”

“Good,” Hunter nodded: “Then it’s time to go home. We’re all clear but for the paperwork. That can wait until tomorrow.”

Stiles sighed relived. They sorted themselves to the cars and Stiles started typing on his laptop his latest report. While Toni was driving, Stiles then asked her for her wording and wrote down her report as well so that they were done quickly and only had to sign off on the paperwork. Plus, it kept the conversation going easily so that Toni wouldn’t fall asleep on the drive.

By the time they stopped at the car pool, Stiles yawned and could feel Derek in the area. He was asleep, which Stiles had figured. The clock was showing close to one in the morning after all.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t pass Quantico,” Toni said.

“It’s fine, really,” Stiles shrugged: “Your car is here and the walk is just a few minutes. I’ll be fine.”

Toni waved him goodnight and Stiles grabbed his backpack and started the short walk to the front of the entrance where they were.

Stiles signed in with the guards and stepped into the area. He quickly decided to stop by in his office to get the paperwork signed and started before heading for Derek and his room.

Once there, Stiles quickly looked into his email account and saw a mail from Kent with Derek’s score. He smirked when he realized that Derek was on the top of the class in everything but communication. Stiles snorted at the irony because actually talking would have saved some hassles in the past. 

Nevertheless, Derek had improved those skills as opposed to the start and besides that, Derek and Stiles were a perfect team. Derek was great when he had to be.

Signing off, Stiles made his way to the dorms, hoping that he wouldn’t wake Derek. Which, was a small chance. Stiles used all his training to be stealthy and simply shed his clothes and into bed. He nearly succeeded, too, but the dip of the bed was enough to startle Derek and the other man wrapped his arms around his body, dragging him to sleep.

After that case, Stiles thought the last month and a half were just flying by. Derek was writing his exams, going out on a case with another, random team that he was assigned to while Stiles shadowed him, letting the Agent in Charge know why Stiles was around but staying nearly invisible.

They held another trial case at Hogan’s Alley, Derek and Stiles were examined in their physical hand to hand and overall Derek’s ability to work separately, just like Stiles had done.

It was also a week in between where Stiles was to fly out to Beacon Hills.

Agent Zoe McIntosh, the Guide on the team that had flown with Noah Stilinski to Beacon Hills and had gotten pointers for their FBI headquarter location.

“Stiles,” she greeted him and Stiles greeted her back: “Zoe, how’s Beacon Hills treating you?”

“So far, so good,” she replied with an easy smile: “Your father found an interesting place for the office.”

“Wait, don’t tell me,” Stiles said: “Former Train or bus depot?”

“How-“

“Nooooo, no way,” Stiles sighed: “Really?? That place is like, terribly to secure, much less it has not one single window!”

“Seems like you know the place?”

“Know the place?? Damn it, Derek lived there,” Stiles wanted to bang his head but unfortunately they weren’t in the car yet to bang his head against.

Zoe chuckled: “So that was Noah’s idea behind that.”

Stiles’ eyebrows nearly rose into the hairline because she called his father by his first name: “You got to know my dad?”

“Yes,” she smiled at him: “He was happy to have a Guide with him. The first few weeks were tough for him but the local center was helpful. It was honestly a big surprise that he hadn’t walked across his Guide and Sentinel before then. I mean, they knew each other.”

“They didn’t before then?” Stiles frowned: “I thought my pack was better than that.”

“To be honest, I encouraged Noah not to do too much the first few days but get used to his senses. He had a tough time on the plane and even manning the office was rather hard. The great Deputy Parish was very helpful. I at first thought he would be a Guide and come online to him.”

Stiles snorted: “Parish is a Hellhound.”

“What?!” Zoe looked at him surprised and Stiles got into the car, smirking. Zoe got into the driver’s seat and shook her head: “The people you know.”

“My Dad met Melissa and Chris?”

She sighed: “I wasn’t there but apparently, Scott was having a dinner with the pack when Noah walked in and saw Melissa. They were staring at each other when apparently, the door opened and Chris walked in. Scott pretty much fled his mother’s home after that.”

Stiles chuckled due to the image Zoe was drawing and wondered how he would have reacted. It now felt normal for his Dad to have two life partners and for Stiles it would only be a weird thing that the scent would be changing.

“Sounds like an epic way to bond,” Stiles said: “I’m happy for them.”

“They do good with the pack. It helps that Melissa is a nurse and your father a Sheriff. Chris is a bit on the quiet part in the town and most don’t quite know what he’s doing around but he’s accepted.”

“I guess Chris has a reputation for dealing with weapons and staying out in the woods a lot,” Stiles agreed: “Have you heard anything about bad guys coming into town?”

Zoe shook her head: “No, and if, the local supernatural won’t tell us.”

“I’ll change that,” Stiles said simply: “We can’t have them all running around like we used to. As teenagers with no clue, that was partly acceptable but pretty much the whole town knows about the supernatural now and we need to make a point to be there for humans and the supernaturals.”

“That is admirable but I doubt we will get them all to agree. And someone needs to keep an eye out for the Nemeton. Which I haven’t seen yet.”

Stiles sighed: “That tree is very well hidden and that is good. Jordan Parish, Lydia Martin and I will always protect it. We will try to hide the tree as well because too many bad people have found their way there and we don’t want a repeat performance of any of them. The ley lines are too strong to be used.”

“Can’t we set up camp there, then?”

“What, in the middle of the woods like a bright neon light?” Stiles shook his head: “No, it doesn’t work that way. I know you are a Guide and you might just be able to pick up some magical energies if I teach you but don’t get your hopes up.”

Zoe nodded and parked in front of the new station of the FBI. Stiles briefly wondered how long it would take Agent McCall to show up and demand to be assigned an office whenever he’s there. Stiles would refuse profoundly.

The interior of the once empty train depot had changed dramatically. The wide, open floor was now lined with a foyer of some kind, single offices and a meeting room. Additionally, the old, small bathrooms had been changed to open locker rooms with enough space to shower and change. Then there was a quiet room with beds for cases that went beyond the regular hours and some cells.

The pathway to the tunnels were blocked by hidden trap doors which Stiles liked because they had been ambushed one too many times.

Stiles admired the space and frowned: “Any particular order for the offices?”

“No, just Hunter’s room will be the single office and I recon Derek and you will be sharing an office. Otherwise, I took a pick but the other three rooms are empty,” Zoe said and showed them one room: “I am hoping my Sentinel will join us eventually.”

“Never give up hope,” Stiles said: “They might just be a corner away.”

He took a closer look around the rooms and settled for one spot that seemed to have the least of the bad memories. Neither Boyd, Isaac nor Erica had left an imprint on the corner Stiles picked because really, their deaths was still hard on the whole pack and Derek especially as he had turned both.

The room he picked was in the center of the whole place, right past the foyer.

As Derek and he would only start there in a few weeks, Stiles didn’t feel the need to do much but place a first few files there that he had brought from the Area fifty-one. He still hadn’t thought of a very good name.

As it was late, Stiles was packing his stuff and getting ready to see his father again after all those long weeks. The Sentinel Alpha in him was missing a part of his pack because he didn’t have much to call as his in a pack in the first place. He liked to think that he would adopt the pack just as much as Scott did.

Zoe was letting him out on a few streets away to Stiles’ childhood home. He didn’t want Zoe to bother driving too close and needed the time to get a feel for the whole area and neighborhood in a Sentinel way. He hadn’t taken the time to do so after coming back from the forgotten.

He knew his father had already made him out. Stiles had told him he would be coming after all. And his father was a Sentinel now, as well. He waited in the door, cruiser and Stiles’ Jeep in the driveway.

“Stiles,” Noah said and Stiles smiled widely at his father. Already, he could make out the smell of Melissa’s and Chris’ scent pile. It was unsettling as well as comforting as Melissa had become his mother in a way and Chris was a man Stiles could respect and had come close to liking.

“Dad,” Stiles replied and knew how much his scent must be strange due to the plane as well.

They hugged and something settled inside Stiles’ mind. Something that screamed pack.

Noah ushered him inside not too much later and Stiles was back in the comfort of his childhood kitchen. His Dad even had cooked what appeared to be Stiles' favorite pasta dish. While it was Stiles that had mostly cooked for them before, Noah had always helped and was a decent cook himself. They made a point in cooking together if possible simply so Stiles knew when Noah was using too much salt or clogging his arteries with something else.

Now, it seemed, Noah was cooking for his two bonded as well because there was no way that they could eat all that alone. Not even Derek on a full moon would be able to eat all that.

"Melissa and Chris coming over?"

"And Scott," Noah agreed: "We are a family after all. But there was something that I wanted to speak with you about first."

Stiles knew when it was a serious matter and patiently sat down on the kitchen table where Noah had already laid out the dishes, too: "Spill, Dad."

"As you know, Melissa, Chris and I cannot afford so be parted," Noah said and shrugged easily. Stiles nodded and Noah continued: "Melissa's house, Chris' house and my house. That's like, two houses too many."

Stiles didn't really see that one coming and wasn't quite sure where this would lead, but he was following the notions.

"Melissa and I have a child that we can pass the house on to. Chris doesn't anymore," Noah said: "So we talked about it and Melissa will give the house to Scott while I thought this house should go to you and Derek. As you're both coming here with the FBI anyways, it would give you a place to call your home. And as I said, Chris has a house and with Allison having died, it would be fair."

"Dad, you don't have to ever explain your reasoning to me," Stiles said: "I would have been fine with you three selling all three houses and getting your own, new one."

"We might do that, actually. Melissa and my house are all paid for, Stiles. We all have a good income and Chris got a fortune from Gerard's death. Scott needs a house for the pack and you one with Derek. I'd much rather see you live here than someone I don't know."

"Ah, there's the Sentinel coming out," Stiles grinned: "Thanks, Dad. Really."

"Yeah, well, what better way to support my kid than to give him a house," Noah said and Stiles was tilting his head, hearing Scott approaching from the woods. A few seconds later, Noah registered Scott as well.

"Typically Scott," Noah chuckled: "Just giving us enough time to talk about the basics before showing up."

Stiles grinned: "Yeah, well, some traits are just not random."

"So, how's Derek doing anyways?"

Stiles grinned proudly: "Pretty good. He had a hang for it. And he passed all his classes with a good mark. Those last two weeks he'll have to pass the physical stuff and I am not allowed to be on site with him."

"You know, if you hadn't snatched him off for FBI, I would have asked him to become a Deputy as well. Jordan and I are rather busy with the supernatural referring to us first and not quite trusting the others. The same can be said for Jordan and me about them. We don't trust them anymore."

"Damn it, Dad," Stiles sighed: "I know we'll be around and you can always trust us but maybe Beacon Hills Sheriff's department needs a psych evaluation. I do happen to know a profiler on my team that might be of help with that. She's also a Guide, as you very well know her."

"She could do that?" Noah asked surprised and thought it over. Stiles knew the idea was a good one and one the Sheriff would follow through with. Scott in the meantime had arrived and was currently trying not to burst into their conversation, waiting outside like a dog left in the rain.

"You know Scott," Stiles said with a smirk: "Only because I called you a dog a few times and made all those jokes when you first turned a werewolf, it doesn't mean you have to wait outside until someone lets you in."

"Ha ha, very funny, Stiles," Scott replied and came in. They hugged briefly and Scott looked at them both: "I'm early, sorry."

"Deaton letting you off early again?" Noah asked.

Stiles sighed: "Scott, you know you won't learn anything from him if you don't also visit a vet college, right?"

"I wanted to wait until you came back. Derek's my Beta in a way and an Alpha for the pack anyways." Scott explained: "I can start right away in the next semester."

"You do that," Stiles agreed: "And then I will tell Deaton to fuck off because his cryptic wannabee Emissary voodoo won't cut it."

"I thought you liked him," Noah asked.

Stiles sighed: "That was until I learned that he should know better and never visited another Emissary to learn the basics. All he knew was hearsay and that one or two times he piggybacked another Druid."

Scott looked at him with a frown and Stiles was reminded yet again of the fallout they had. He wondered how much that would factor in in the future. After all, Stiles did kill someone while Scott judged him for the self-defense. 

Stiles would never forget that. He had always been there for Scott, but the other way around, that wasn't always the case. It all would have to be enough for now, though.

It wasn't long before both Melissa and Chris showed up as well. While Scott was cringing at the display of affection between the three bonded, Stiles was smiling at them and could detect how great their bond was. 

The eating was an easy affair, Stiles was asking Chris more about the weapon's dealership he still was running and reminded him of a few laws and only because they were laws, didn't mean that Chris should be handing over guns to every lunatic coming around and having what looks like solid paperwork only for that to have been handed over too easily in some states.

Stiles really, really didn't like every person having the right to carry a gun. Most kills in the US were, after all, gunshot victims to their own families and friends because people couldn't be bothered with locking the guns away safely or unreachable for kids. 

While Chris agreed to those things, Stiles knew if Chris wasn't selling the guns, someone else would. It just was that as a Sentinel, Chris was always asking people for their reasons to own a gun and if he found them dishonest, he wouldn’t sell them a gun.

Much less any wannabe hunter coming their way.

"What will happen to the Nemeton now?" Melissa asked after they had cleared the dishes away.

Stiles shrugged while Scott looked interested in the answer as well: "I will have to assess it again with my Spark ability. The magician, Harold, has shown me some ways that I can use to monitor the Nemeton and what happens with is or what comes out of it. I can also try to diffuse its location and set up easy perimeter wards that will allow me to know when someone comes in uninvited."

"So, essentially, you'll be the caretaker?"

"Yes, Derek and I will be responsible for it and try to keep evil away from it and have a good, healthy balance," Stiles nodded: "I learned there are about seven or eight across the world that have the same ability I have and are also close to their Nemetons. I guess we act as the police for the supernatural."

Scott nodded: "Anything you can do about Peter?"

"Peter should be dead," Stiles said quickly and frowned a few seconds after he had said it: "he rose from the dead and anchored himself to Lydia. They are still connected by a threat that doesn't affect either one of them but it is not good for Lydia to have that. And once I disconnect Peter from her, he will fall back into death over a short time. I can't say that he wasn't useful in the past but he is a crime against nature and the magic."

"He is Derek's uncle."

"Who killed his sister, tried to kill Derek and caused Cora harm," Stiles said: "He pretty much went against the whole pack again and again. I don't kill him, I merely cut his unnatural connection with Lydia that he still has. After that, he could very well live another ten years or more."

Scott seemed not to be of the same opinion and Stiles was happy with that but it simply showed yet another problem between them. Scott thought that through his Ture Alpha power, he was entitled to getting his opinion across at all times. 

It had showed in how he run his pack, how he had not told anyone about some plans he had made to fight someone and essentially, by pure luck alone, no one was killed. When someone had a different plan or opinion, Scott had gone around and followed his plan anyways.

Stiles knew that Derek hadn't been perfect in his Alpha role, either. He had made mistakes but had known about them and had listened to all opinions before showing an error in said plan or opinion and altered it accordingly. Stiles himself had a different sense of justice now and would not be easy to reason with but that would mostly be due to the Sentinel and Spark thing. While it was hard to go against his own instincts, Stiles thought himself to be someone who always listened to someone else and tried to change and grow.

"He's a member of my pack and I won't let you kill him."

Stiles sighed. Luckily, Melissa, Chris and Noah had left them alone in the house, favoring to stay at Chris' place most of the time and as the dishes had been done and the leftovers shared evenly, Stiles and Scott were left behind to talk: "And Lydia isn't?"

"She is but-"

"But the magic he syphons from her is essentially blocking her abilities. She should have been able to figure some things out a lot sooner than she currently is. Her path to listen is blocked and diminished. It's not something I can explain in greater detail."

"No, you won't do this to them," Scott said.

Stiles smirked: "Oh Scotty, you don't get to tell me what to do when it comes to the spirits telling me otherwise."

Scott frowned at that phrase: "You trust the spirits more than me?"

"I trust my gut feeling and the things I learned. I trust to feel the flow of energy going right and when it's corrupting or blocking. I don't know it all, Scott, but some things just scream at me," Stile said and was somehow sad that his best friend might just not be that anymore due to personal believes.

Scott sighed and turned to leave: "It's best if I am going now. You have changed, Stiles."

"Yeah, being possessed and killing someone can do that," Stiles replied: "But so have you. And not only because we were played against each other, Scott, but because you grew on power. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but you changed. And we haven't exactly taken the time to get to know one another again. Ironically, now we're finally brothers but we're farther away from each other than ever."

"Isn't that the thing with family? You love them anyways but also fight with them?" Scott said with an amused smile. Stiles had to give him that, family stuck together. A pack stuck together. They might just be fine again.

When Scott had left, Stiles was looking through the house and found that most of his father's things were gone. His gun safe was empty, his uniforms were all gone and most of his regular clothes as well. Stiles was secretly wondering how long ago his father had moved out and only stopped by to dust or similar. 

Quietly, Stiles entered his father's former bedroom. The bed was still there, stripped and uncovered, looking forlorn in the room. Stiles knew he would have to renovate the whole place because this was simply too weird to be using his father's bedroom. He also knew his old room was just too small to fit a decent, adult sized bed.

His old room. Stiles got in there and found all of his things untouched. Well, mostly. He had left a few clothes in one corner that had been laundered since and bless his dad, been put away so they wouldn't collect dust over the year. His research books were still all in place but Stiles saw his father had turned a few pages, probably when the Medusa-thingy had come along.

This room would make a great study room until whichever time Derek and Stiles changed it to something else. 

Sleep came easily and Stiles was surprised by his father coming over the next morning and picking him up for breakfast at a diner. After that, Stiles was surprised to find himself in front of Jackson Whittmore's parent's place: "Why are we to see a lawyer, Dad?"

"Because I told you, the house belongs to you and Derek now. We just have to sign the papers. And as you're a Sentinel and bonded to Derek, you are legally allowed to sign the contract for him as well as it is binding to the both of you."

"Right, I got that part. But Dad, you just told me about this yesterday!"

"And you're supposed to move here in three weeks," Stilinski Senior replied sternly.

With nothing much to say to that, Stiles trotted off to sign mentioned papers and for the rest of his two day-stay in Bacon Hills organized everything around his house, got Derek signed in on his address and worked with Zoe on the office computer grid. At some point, Stiles had thrown his hands up and called Danny to officially come in and be their IT guy. While Danny was studying computer technology, he was working in a local shop and happy to help. On the legal side of the law this time, no less.

Before too long, Stiles was flying back out of Beacon Hills without having seen Malia, Jackson or Lydia. He was surprised but secretly wondered whether Scott had told them he was there. Nevertheless, Stiles would be back in a few weeks and get together with them again.

The way from the airport to Quantico was one that Stiles knew by now and he wasn't surprised when Derek was leaning casually at a lamp pole on the yard next to the walkway and smiling at him, arms casually crossed in front of his breast. 

With what looked like the whole year behind him, littering around the lawn and outside area to relax a bit in the sun, as all written exams had been finished and the physical, practical were left.

"Stiles,"

"Derek," he greeted back and walked up to Derek, wrapping his arms around the other man and kissing him: "Missed you."

"Me, too." Derek replied and Stiles tried hard to ignore the whole class of Derek behind them, snickering, whispering or gawking: "How was Beacon Hills?"

"Good, found us a house," Stiles replied.

"Yeah, that so?"

"Yep," Stiles looked at Derek: "You know, I got it as a sort of wedding present for us. My Dad lives at Chris' place now."

"What!?" Derek's surprise was written all over the face and Stiles chuckled: "Stiles, what the hell?"

"Yeah, surprised me, too. At least we don't have to look for a place now, right? And Dad played the Chris-lost-his-daughter-card so that I couldn't be angry with him for giving me the house as a present."

"I like your house," Derek shrugged: "But we need to work on a few windows and block them more efficiently."

"Our house, Derek, and whose fault is it anyways that the window was a door anyways?" Stiles grinned: "Now, tell me what you have left in your examination and we'll practice."

"Just combat and hand to hand," Derek replied innocently ignoring the one time he was a fugitive adult in Stiles' underaged bedroom.

"Ah, you’ve got that covered," Stiles said: "When?"

"Tomorrow," Derek answered with a look to the whole class that was watching them. Stiles rolled his eyes and looked at Derek: "Care for some bonding time?"

"Hell yes," Derek nearly grabbed him on the collar to drag him behind him, weren't it for Stiles to be totally on board with that.

They passed Espinoza, Kent and Reynold on the way while Espinoza whistled at them, clearly knowing what was up while Kent was nodding at them as if he didn't know what that was about. Stiles was never happier to soon be gone from this place.

The next few days were gone by in a blur. Stiles was still doing some research in his Area fifty-one while Derek had the last exams. Derek then had to wait a few more hours until the graduation party was taking place which annoyed him. Stiles had persuaded Derek to attend.

Stiles already knew the score of the exams from Derek as Kent had informed him that his Guide was now fully FBI and they were officially assigned together as partners and where one was going, the other followed. It was also a pretty neat surprise that when Stiles' record and Derek's record were spread out next to each other, they were pretty much complimentary. Derek was better in the physical stuff while Stiles was better at research, pretty much what they had always known before anyways. 

The graduation party was going on when Derek suddenly looked up and around. Stiles whispered: "Surprise?" Before Derek's eyes settled on Cora. His baby sister was right there, next to Uncle Peter, which, granted, Stiles didn't want him there but he was Derek's last remaining family after all.

Derek walked over to both and gave them a big hug, surprised that they showed up. Stiles also had invited his father again, along with Chris and Melissa, as they had been close friends to Derek the past few years and were the in-laws now.

The whole meet and greet was over with Kent being happy that not another one had come online in the tumult and that all but two cadets had passed. Kent was then talking with Hunter on the sideline while Stiles was saying his goodbyes to Espinoza, Reynold and Silva. He had a good relationship with them now after all and didn't want to just disappear. Plus, Stiles still had to clear out the Area fifty-one.

He still didn't have a good name for the former bus station. 

While talking to Peter wasn't Stiles' favorite past time, Cora was quite good and doing well. She was still in New York and was still within the pack. It was good for her and while she didn't have much contact with Derek, Stiles could tell the familiarity of the smell and genetic markup was good for her. Who knew, she might just come to Beacon Hills after her graduation. 

Peter on the other hand, Stiles still couldn't tell what he was up to. That man was a menace. Stiles hated how he always seemed to plan something. To hold back and only care for himself. Well, that hat changed with Malia but Stiles didn't get ahold of her and besides, Derek hadn't had much to do with his cousin.

By the time Derek had gotten his badge and certificate, the whole part of their party was enjoying themselves and the whole party was good. The next morning just came way too soon and Derek and Stiles had to clear the room as well as make their way to the plane on time.

They were all flying back together, all but Cora, and Stiles was never more exhausted to deal with Peter on a plane ride than this. The only good part was that he had told Derek about the tether he had to Lydia and Derek had agreed that the tether needed to go. 

Once they landed, Stiles was getting to the bus stop because there simply was no way to fit Derek, Melissa, Chris, Noah, Peter and Stiles into one car. What he didn’t expect was the fun fact that Zoe was there and walking over to them: “Agent Hale, congratulations on your shiny new badge.”

“Thanks, Agent McIntosh,” Derek smiled and shrugged.

“Fun fact,” she said: “Your badge numbers are back to back.”

“What?” Stiles looked at her irritated before actually getting his badge out to check the number. Derek’s was, in fact, the following number: “How-“

Zoe grinned: “No one thought Derek wouldn’t pass. And in case you hadn’t realized, Stilinski, your last name was the last on the list of surnames in your class.”

Stiles grinned: “But Hale wasn’t the first.”

“No, but they issued the badge before Derek finished because they knew there was no way he would fail the last classes and as a touch for the Sentinel and Guide bond. Besides, you two were both already out on cases before officially finishing. They expected something like this with Derek as well,” Zoe explained and drove them to the new office.

Derek grinned at Stiles and was happy due to the fact. They stayed quiet on the remaining drive to the office. Derek was impressed with the place and what they had done. He was going over some places that Stiles knew held bad memories and was glad he had chosen the one office with the least memories in a corner.

“My car?” Derek asked. Right, Stiles had forgotten that Derek’s car had been hidden there.

“Noah Stilinski took it away. I know for a fact that he placed it in his garage at his house,” Zoe said from the side line.

Derek nodded and traced one reminder in the wall to the bathroom that Zoe’s handworker hadn’t changed. It was claw marks of Erica, where she had tried to get the better of him and he had thrown her back. She had tried to stop her fall by clawing at the tiles. Derek was glad there was one part left.

“Isaac will be back, Derek,” Stiles promised: “Let him deal with Allison’s death on his own.”

Zoe apparently didn’t get what they were not quite saying and walked away, leaving Derek to settle into the office that Stiles had picked. Altogether, Hunter and Kay would be coming to stay with them in Beacon Hills while Toni and Aaron were more bound to the east coast due to their families. Hunter planned to have one or two more on the east coast eventually but for now, Zoe would be staying mostly in Washington DC as well. She had agreed to the facelift of the place because she had a minor degree in interior design. 

Stiles was pretty busy getting his pin board up while Derek growled at him that he should only ever use his part of the office to connect the red threats with. Stiles stuck his tongue out at him and let him know in great detail just how many times that had actually helped them.

That time flew by quickly and Stiles and Derek were picked up in the evening by Noah who was driving with them to the local restaurant for a dinner together. Stiles was thankful because he was certain that they didn’t have any food in the fridge and by now it was too late to go for groceries anyways.

Derek was enjoying the meal with Noah alone – Melissa had a night shift and Chris was to meet some clients – and thanked him again for the house. Noah waved at him and smiled: “It’s just a house, Derek. And as far as I know, you’ve slept there more times than I actually know about.”

Stiles laughed, because Derek had done exactly that as a fugitive. Plus, Stiles was very sure that Derek had snuck into their house in the first two years at least to shower and hide out from the others. Stiles had found evidence a few times, like, a used towel, a bottle of shampoo out of place, small things but telltale.

At that time, he hadn’t much thought about it. Besides having saved each other a few times and being friends, there wasn’t much that connected them. Now, though, that was a different story.

“I did,” Derek admitted: “Mostly whenever my hideout was found out or burnt.”

Stiles winced because the first few months Derek had actually stayed at the Hale House’ burnt out shell. Then, the train depot where the water wasn’t running, either. Isaac had mostly showered at school before squatting there while Erica and Boyd had stayed at home.

“See, and therefore, it is your place. Besides, I told Stiles that Chris, Melissa and I don’t need three houses and in some distant future to come it would have been yours anyways.”

“Not mine,” Derek denied.

“Oh please, Derek, you bonded to my son. That is like a marriage in my book,” Noah said easily.

Stiles grinned at Derek’s stunned expression. He wondered again how Derek couldn’t know that. Okay, granted, they didn’t need the paper of a marriage, they had been to the centers to get registered. Stiles secretly wondered if Derek had lost all hope of ever having a somewhat normal relationship after what Kate had done to him.

When Noah’s plate of food came, Stiles raised one eyebrow at the older man in question and annoyance as his Dad had ordered the unhealthy stuff.

“What, I live with a nurse and another Sentinel. I won’t die on you and I am certainly well monitored. Melissa has always been on my case with that and Chris is a hunter who always finds out when I ate something I shouldn’t. Once a week is fine.”

Derek hid a laugh at the Sheriff being so obviously happy and being taken care of.

All in all, the first night was relaxed and Stiles and Derek settled into Stiles’ old bedroom because Derek already voiced that they needed to change things. Stiles was pretty sure that Derek had picked up on his thoughts.

The next morning was relaxed and started with Stiles making some coffee for them and dragging out some eggs that were still in the fridge and some canned beans. Nothing wrong with that food while they needed to make a plan. This would be something new after all, them, living together, alone and responsible for everything that went wrong.

“Stop worrying,” Derek interrupted Stiles’ thoughts and shook his head. Thankfully, they had a few more days off before having to come into the office officially. Well, that was unless a call came in for them to work.

“I always worry. Like, now I started on the Dread Doctors.”

Derek sighed: “Let’s go to the Nemeton tonight. That might help you focus on the energies and we can disable them from afar.”

“That sound like a plan. Lydia and Jordan?”

“Should come with us. Lydia needs to reconnect with it now, too. The threat of Peter is gone now.” Derek said: “Jordan is the hellhound and if you change the magic of the place as its caretaker, you need to include him.”

“Good, I’ll drop them a line then,” Stiles agreed: “We need to make a renovation plan.”

“Sure,” Derek nodded: “You know, this place has a layout similar to the one place I had an eye on previously. I’ll show it to you and let you add to it.”

“Sounds like a plan. And then we need Lydia for interior design. She’s amazingly good at that.”

“I know,” Derek agreed: “But I need to check on my Camaro, first.”

Stiles agreed, plus, priority two; food.

“Do you have a name yet for the office?”

Stiles glared at Derek: “No.”

“How about Kitt?” Derek asked.

“Like the speaking car? Oh, who knew you’d be such a geek?”

Derek glared at him with a blush and shrugged: “That, or Firefly, or, Batcave.”

Stiles looked at Derek in surprise: “Erica always called me her batman.”

Derek’s pain of losing his Beta was once again telltale and he nodded: “Yes, but being in the station without them doesn’t hurt less.”

“Batcave it is,” Stiles agreed: “How to we make the others play along?”

“We’ll refuse to listen to any other name of the place?” Derek asked.

Stiles gaped at him: “You know, if we weren’t pretty much married right now, I’d propose. You’re perfect.”

“Likewise, Sentinel.”

“Guide,” Stiles acknowledged and looked at the slip of paper with a floorplan of Derek’s formerly design for the Hale House.

Placing a kiss to Derek’s lips, Stiles took a pen and together they made a plan for their new place.

The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!  
> comments and kudos are welcome ;)


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